Pax Lunae
by TheElephantInThePrideParade
Summary: Before the Silver Millennium, there was a Sailor Earth. Hers is the story of how Sailor Earth disappeared from the ranks of the Sol System's Senshi. Hers is the story of how nine guardians rose to take one's place. Hers is the story of the first Serenity. The girl who created the age of prosperity that all remember as The Silver Millennium.
1. The Blessing Of The Guardian

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, blah blah blah. etc.

AN: Yes, there are a lot of Original Characters in this work. I am telling the story of how the Silver Millennium came to be and trying to answer a few of the loose ends I thought the Manga and Anime left open about the Sailorverse. Stick with me and you shall get sailor drama, awesome characters, plot, and plenty of tie-ins to the canon. And if you intend to read the story that's coming next - spoilers, it will feature all the main scouts and be quite the ride based on the chapters I've drafted - then I highly encourage reading this prequel.

Otherwise enjoy, and check out Third First Breaths here or on AO3. Chapters of that shall be posted daily as they're already done. Hopefully it tides you over until I finish this.

The Blessing Of The Guardian

"Mother!" a shrill voice and the incessant rapping of knuckles on wood drags her from her rest. "Mother, come quickly!"

With an agility quite shocking in one so aged she has rolled out of bed and covered the distance to her chamber door in three strides. She yanks it all the way open halting her youngest Acoylte halfway through another round of knocking.

"What's happened?." she snaps as she accepts her formal golden robe from the Daughter Zinea's hand. She knows that look and the off-kilter pitch of her voice – panic she became quite familiar with during the events of seven moons ago.

"Guards at the doors." Zinea says as she scuttles to keep up with the Mother Priestess. "And Asha want's to let them in!"

"By the Lady, I will flay that girl where she stands," She grabs a torch off the wall of their dormitory and quickens her pace to the end of the hall. "Keep up, damnit girl, isn't anyone stopping her."

"Three of my sisters Ma'am, others' if they're up. She's so strong."

Asha had been a shepherd's girl before coming to them, Mother remembers. Country girl just like the damn Usurper. _Don't judge a scroll by it's handles they said_, She fixed her sternest look on her face as she threw open the doors to the main temple. _Going against my best instincts_.

She flies as fast as her aging feet can carry her across the main hall of the temple, seeing moonlight spanning in from the atrium and struggling silhouettes against it. Zinea jogs along at her heels.

She walks through the archway into the Atrium, seeing the silouhettes in the light as the bull-like Asha with a familiar gold-leafed scroll in her hands and three young Priestesses piled on her. One has jumped on her back and thought to get a hand over her mouth, holding it there despite strong teeth biting into it.

She goes to Asha and the sight of her makes the young woman freeze. She jerks the scroll from her grasp, tucking it into the sleeve of her robe and night gown. Then she whirls around to the doorway. Seven men stand there in the new Palace colors of violet and gold. She stands just beyond the threshold letting rage power her stance and her tone.

"Does the Usurper now think it appropriate to send is militia to my door at all hours of the night?"

"Watch your tongue when you speak of the King, Priestess!" A young one on her left says. He tries to ram the doorway only to have an older friend hold him back by the collar. Pity she'd have liked the see him break his nose on the temple's barrier.

"At ease, boy." The man directly in front of her says." He has a gruff look about him, salt and pepper in his neat beard and a scar twisting around his eye like a knife just missed carving it out. "Forgive him, Mother. He is full of the hot air of youth. We don't mean to disturb you, but a concerned citizen revealed to us that a dangerous fugitive might attempt to take refuge beyond your doors tonight."

"You mean the Princess," she snaps. She's sick and tired of this carrying on. "That poor girl died in the Old Castle Fire and your traitor knows it."

"No body was ever found, as you'll recall," the man says.

"And precious little of the others were!" She wishes she had the height of years past – she would have towered over him. "That blaze burned for three days. The Princess is ash in the rubble whether the paranoid demon knows it or not."

"That is your King," the young, red faced young man raises his short sword at her.

"He is no King of mine," she counters, glaring at each one of them until sweat gleams on their brows. "And no King of Lady Ra either. Now leave my temple. You shall not be granted entrance as long as Terrio's family rules. Continue this fool's hunt elsewhere."

"You ungrateful shrew!" the youngest hisses.

"SILENCE!" his commanding officer rounds on him. "That is still a priestess regardless of her allegiance." He bows to her, a stiff jerk of his upper body. "I beg you to reconsider, fresh blood shall be good for Elysium and the rest of the realm."

"Leave. My. Steps." She glares as each man turns and walks out of her courtyard, until the only view of them is the glint of the full moon on their armor. Then she closes the marble door firmly and directs her attention to Asha. "You fool."

"You're the fool!" Asha spits. She struggles, but the other priestesses hold fast to her. "All these months giving the cold shoulder to the crown. They are the people's rulers. We chose them. Us! Not some ancient planet magic."

Every one of her daughters gasps when her hand whips across Asha's cheek. "Do you know what your rulers have done?" She whispers icily. "They have cavorted with demons that haunt the fringes of our civilization – monsters the crown beat back centuries ago. They have dealt with that dark power and sacrificed the energy of this Kingdom's people to them – your people Asha – all in the name of a throne that is not theirs. They murdered children in their beds, They burned a whole palace of good people just for the blood of a few. They poisoned a good King when an honourable rival would have duelled him for the crown." Asha does not cower before her, but she takes pleasure in seeing the goose bumps rising on her arms. "All in the name of what exactly?"

"My people starved, five winters ago. No grain came to help our hungry." She can't quite meet the Mother's eyes. "Sometimes things get messy in the name of good."

She gestures for her Daughters to release Asha and then grabs the girl by the neck of her robe. "If the Usurper is your answer for the hardships of a few, if the good of a Kingdom is worth the price of bodies so burnt you cannot tell flesh from bone, then it is not a good I ever want to see." She pushes Asha back, hating that her old joints wobble. "You will walk yourself to one of our guest quarters in the back of this temple and you will stay there under guard until I receive word from the other Mothers what should be done with you."

"Or I could leave." she challenges.

"Try."

And Asha walks past her, up to the door, pulls until her strong arms near rip it off its hinges, and takes the step towards the open courtyard.

A loud boom echoes off the walls of the Atrium as a flash of golden light blasts Asha off her feet and shoulders-first into the stone floor. She stares up at the ceiling dazed.

Mother walks up to her and links her hands behind her back, studying her once promising Priestess with pity. "Ancient planet magic is more than you will ever understand. It cannot always feed the hungry, nor can it solve every wrong, but in the matters of goodness and judgement, it is sound." She turns her back on the girl. "You will walk voluntarily to the guest quarters when you are able and think about what it means that the Lady Ra imprisons you here under her justice.

She hears hesitant footsteps follow her. "Mother what will happen to Asha?" Her youngest initiate – Maeve – asks.  
"She will face judgement for attempting to betray Ra and her disciples," she says smoothly. Maeve was the one who jumped on Asha's back. "How is your hand dear?"

"Bleeding…but I'm fine, I couldn't let her say the words to bring the barrier down."

"And Ra, this temple, and I all thank you for it." She opens the door to the dormitories and waves her daughters through. "Have one of your sisters treat it. Thank you, for trusting my decisions, all of you."

The three who fought Asha bid her goodnight and walk towards their chambers. Zinea lingers. "Mother, I don't mean to seem disloyal."

"But you have questions, as you always do." She smiles at the most bookish of her priestesses. "Ask."

"They only want to know we do not have the Princess…doesn't it seem suspicious if we keep refusing to let them search."

She sighs, they have whispered just this at meals for every moon since the coup. "Yes, it does, to more than just Terrio and his ilk."

"How do you mean?"

"Word gets around – the House of Ra does not condone the new rulers. They do not let those loyal to them beyond their doors. We might be under suspicion, Terrio might if her were actually unhinged threaten our safety. He won't, he knows we are far too popular."

"Then what?"

"Because I _hope_, Zinea." She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Do you know, how many bodies they pulled from the rubble of the Castle?"

"No."

"47," she swallows. "Men, women, children, servants, dogs. All of them burnt until there was nothing left but bone. Children I blessed at birth and instructed in pray and morals and even in decorum in Selena's case. All of them suffocated, burned, and died until they could only guess at who they were by the teeth in their blackened skulls." She looks up at Zinea whose eyes tremble against sudden tears. "He put the family's skulls in the wall of the throne room below the portraits – the ones their mother and father had painted to show just how proud they were. I counted each one when he anointed himself with the crown, and the joy – I cannot describe it to you – of seeing one skull missing." She shakes her head. "I might well be right and a beam could have crushed her charred bones to nothing…but if I'm wrong, Zinea…don't you see I must do everything I can to show that girl that she would be safe here. That the murderer sitting in her parents seat – in her seat – cannot touch her here."

"Don't you think she would know, Mother?"

She shakes her head. "If the Usurper is anything, he is smart. He will have tried to spread word that we are his silent supporters. I must do everything I can to counteract that."

Zinea nods and then surprises her, stooping to wrap her arms around Mother's hunching shoulders. "I shall hope too, Mother."

"Thank you," she pats Zinea on the back and smiles sadly at her when she pulls away. "Now to bed with you," she says. "Before it's time for the dawn prayers."

Zinea bids her goodnight and goes off to bed, and Mother lets the weariness seep into her. She leans a hand on the wall as she makes her way to the Atrium. Asha has vanished – off to a guest quarters surely or perhaps roaming the temple. Mother walks to the front doors and pulls them open, watching the Full moon still and calm over her head.  
"Great Lady," she whispers. "Is hope enough?" She closes her eyes, wondering if the moonlight truly is warm on her cheeks or if it's a trick of the summer air.

She awakens to a hand shaking her frantically.

"Come on, come on, come on, wake up." A rough and fast paced voice yells. She blinks away sleep and glares at the intruder. She notes the purple and gold tunic once – a Terrio servant – and glares. "You know you aren't welcome here, boy."

"Not me! Her!" he gestures behind him. Her eyes drift down the steps to the hunched and heavily cloaked woman who has collapsed on the marble. She looks terribly thin save for the bump protruding from her worn cloak. "Help her."

"No palace man is allowed beyond these walls, no matter his cause." She stands and walks over to the woman. "But I shall send some of my girls out to help and _why in Ra_'s name did you not come here sooner?" She pulls the shaking woman to her feet, feeling the tremors that shake her whole body. "How long have these been going?" she askes the hooded stranger.

"Since moonrise." The woman gasps. Her voice is little more than a girl's. "Oh please I thought I was only seven moons along – it's too early."

"No time for that now." She sooths the woman. "Have your waters broken?"

"Just a few streets back." the girl whispers. "Mother please, I must go inside."

"Certainly you do my dear, he'll stay beyond the walls, but I'll take you to one of our guest rooms. My girls have helped women through this many times before.

No," the girl shakes her head. "No I must go to the Cloister of the Guardian."

"Absolutely not," she scoffs. "you've no business speaking directly to Ra, child, and her house can offer you help and shelter, but she shall not listen to those who support Terrio."

The girl chuckles, it ends in a pained whine as another contraction quakes through her. "I am no Terran. I can prove it to you." And she pulls away her hood just enough for the moonlight to catch the top of her head – distinctive golden hair and amber eyes glazed over with pain stare hopefully at her.

She wastes no time. Words so ancient their language has vanished from the realm fall from her lips. She touches her hand to the girl's heart and then against her better judgement, her male companion. "You may pass, both of you." And she pulls an arm around Selena and rushes her inside, a bit pleased when the man goes around to support her on the right.

"Why wait so long to come here." She murmurs, berating herself that she didn't even recognize the Princess' voice and then her heart saddens realizing it has changed. It is weak and warbles like each word is an effort. Her fingers can feel Selena's ribs through her cloak. She must have been dreadfully sick. "This way," she says, guiding them through the Atrium and the Main hall.

"I didn't want to…endanger you." Selena pants. "Wasn't sure either whose of yours I could…trust."

"It's alright child." She rushes the pair of them to the open hallways that surround the Cloister and turns them to the left towards the entry archway. "We really must get you to a bed. Get you warm water, medicine."

Selena just keeps shaking her head. "I must address Ra."

Mother takes her through the gardens of the Cloister, to tall marble-gold-veined column that glows in the center. She and the young man help Selena kneel before it. The princess wraps her arms as far around the column as she can and presses her forehead to it, eyes closing."

"Let's leave her." She coaxes the panicky man.

"But…"

"Leave me be Matteo." Selena whispers, "please."

She pulls the young man out of the sacred Cloister into the covered walkway that surrounds it. Here they can watch over Selena as she prays, but do not intrude.

Mother puts both hands over her face. "Dear Ra, help her – whatever she needs."

"The Guardianship," Matteo whispers, hoarse voice cracking. "She wants Ra to bless the child with the Guardianship."

"For her protection," Mother murmurs. Not even Terrio could dare kill Ra's chosen, ancient magic protected them from murder by a monarch's hand – whether he knew it or not. She rubbed her forehead. "It's due to a child of this world any day now."

"Selena needs it to be hers…she doesn't think she'll be around to protect her."

"Nonsense," Mother scoffs. "Every woman of her line for the last…nine generations has survived childbirth. Her own mother seven times."

"She's been sick," Matteo presses. "The fire ruined her lungs, the food's been scarce in the commons of the city – Terrio's trying to drive her out – and she spent the past month with fever."

"And the child survived?"' she marvelled.

"Selena did everything she could," Matteo responded.

"Are you the father?" She wonders at him, eye on Selena as light flashes in the middle of the Cloister.

"No," Matteo looks away like he might cry. "My brother was – died in the fire. He's the one that woke them up in time to get her out…. he got blasted in by one of the walls as they were running."

Kegs of flour, and oil, she recalled, had been used to help the flame. Huge barrels of it from the storerooms had helped the Old Castle collapse on its foundations, trapping everyone inside. "I am sorry."

"Yeah, well," he shrugs. "I'm working there for food…and if I ever get the chance to stab that bastard in the heart I'll take it."

She nods, in the courtyard she could swear the gold veins of the column glowed more brightly. "Fetch my girls if you would. In the dormitories the door three doors down on the left and the one all the way at the end on the right.  
"Yes, milady," he rushes off down the covered walk and into the confines of the temple. She waits until Selena has turned away from the column and rested the back of her head against it before approaching.

"My best are on their way," she speaks softly to Selena, noting the creases on her face and the bags beneath her amber eyes.

"Thank you," she whispers. Her hand reaches out for Mother's and grasps it in a bruising, sweaty grip. "I'm sorry for…"

"You've nothing to apologize for," she hushes her. "You brave girl."

"Will you protect her?"

"With my life," she swears. "But you can still pull through this." She coaches the girl even as she pulls in on herself, dress and cloak bunching up over her thighs. "You can't make it this far without being a fighter, Selena."

"It's only for her," she sobs. "I just want to be with them…all of them…Papa, Ma, Thom…" She clutches impossibly tighter onto Mother's hand as a strong contraction rips through her. "But I wanted her to live…a nice fuck you to that bastard."

She bites her tongue on the familiar retort about royalty and _language_. Selena surely doesn't need decorum now.  
Quick footsteps clack on the stone walkway. "I've got towels." Zinea rushes to kneel before Selena, spreading linens out on the stone walk and passing a cloth to Mother to wipe Selena's brow.

"Drink this princess," Maeve kneels by her head on the other side, holding a cup of water to her lips. "Just hold on."

"I've got you, Selena," Matteo kneels beside Maeve and wraps Selena's free hand in both of his.

"Can't I push _please_." She begs.

"Not quite yet milady," Zinea murmurs.

"Oh!" Selena turns her head and burrows it into Mother's shoulder. "I told her to stay in earlier and she didn't listen and now I beg her to come out and _she still won't listen_."

"She or he is stubborn like the lot of you then," Mother tells her – anything to distract the girl.  
"She," Selena insists. "I just know it." But while she looks like she might insist another contraction hits. She grits her teeth and turns more into Mother's shoulder.

They stand impossibly long hours in vigil beneath the central column in the Cloister of the Guardian .

Just as dawn cracks over the roof of the temple, a change comes over Selena. She brightens, grins around clenched teeth, and looks determined at Zinea. "_Now_?"

"Now," Zinea confirms. Selena bears down with all the might that's left in her frail body, wailing under the lingering moonlight and dawning sun until a new wail mingles with hers – louder, fresh, and small.

"There, there." Mother accepts the towel wrapped infant, once Zinea has tied the cord, and passes her to Selena whose head is now pillowed in her lap. "Your instincts were right on, my dear."

And Selena looks at her daughter – bright amber eyes, glowing golden hair, and a similarly glowing cresent moon smooth as a birthmark on her forehead. "Serenity," Selena proclaims. She nestles her daughter in her arms and lays her head back on Mother's lap. "Thank you, Great Lady," she says as her eyes close.

Tears flow from her eyes and the eyes of all three present as they watch the breaths from Selena's lungs get shallower and slower. Zinea hangs her head. Maeve reaches out for Matteo's hands, covering them as they continue to clutch to Selena's.

And above them the veins of the marble column glow bright, blinding gold and a sound like a gong reverberates off it into the city beyond. The tall pillar lights up the sky, pulsing as it announces the birth of Sailor Earth to the turbulent realm of Elysium.

"Should we move her?" Zinea asks after the moon has faded from the sky and Priestesses curious why they were not roused for dawn prayers trickle out of the temple.

"No," Mother whispers, brushing hair away from Selena's face and gathering a quiet baby Serenity into her arms. "Cover her, and let's bury her here, where Ra can bless her resting place." She rises on shaky, creaking knees. Serenity will need a wet nurse as soon as they can summon one. "Tell Asha she shall dig the grave."

_~À suivre~_


	2. The Usurper And The Priest

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. But I've always wanted a movie about the Silver Millennium. And like way more Sailor Scout origin stories. Cause I bet they're great.

AN: The third chapter is in the works. I'm aiming to post next Saturday. Enjoy Third First Breaths in the meanwhile and let me know what you think of this. Also: If anyone knows any Japanese names that mean "Passionate" or "Full of Light," let me know and it might end up in a story. ;)

The Usurper And The Priest

"Helios!" the tall, dark haired King Terrio the Usurper stormed across the Palace grounds to the royals' private shrine. His head priest looked up from his work tending the rose garden and dusted his hands on his waist coat.

"Your majesty." He bowed.

"What is the meaning _that_!" He pointed a finger adorned with his predecessor's rings at the glowing marble column that extended above the shrine.

"That is Ra's announcement, Magesty. The Guardian of our generation has been born to Earth today."

"And it is not my children!" He thundered. His hands clenched wishing he could ring the priest's neck, but it was bad luck to do injury to a servant of the Goddess, and the man had sworn fealty to him after all.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"You said the guardian would be of royal blood!" His face was turning the same violet as his velvet tunic and Helios clasped his clammy hands before him and tried to remain calm.

"I said it generally fell to those in the royal line," he said smoothly. "But that does not mean it has to. Two generations back the guardianship went to Mercury, a planet with six royals born after the death of the last guardian – boys and girls – but the guardianship was blessed to the daughter of a merchant family."

"I'd heard she was that King's bastard," Terrio fumes, though noticeably calmer.

"A common story," Helios continues smoothly. "Royals have often welcomed the guardians as their adopted or illegitimate children when the guardianship does not fall to their heirs. The Selene line did just that about two guardianship cycles back. It maintains the custom of keeping the guardian as a ruler or advisor of their home world."

"But you prophesized that the Guardian would be true royalty this generation!" the King thundered. "So how is it that my Queen is still months away from granting me my next child, and your ancient stone bugler is saying the Guardian is already born!" It couldn't possibly be…his soldiers had searched every crevice of the city and it's outlying lands for months…hundreds of search parties in the forests around Elysium…spies in all of their outlying communities across the sea and in the mountains. "Selena." He hissed.

"Hasn't she been declared dead, Magesty?"

"What did you know about her." The king ponders.

"Quite a bit…she was a frequent guest of the temple in the city. I often escorted her to her lessons with the sisters there. It was never confirmed but I heard rumors from her brother that she had a lover on the Palace staff."

"It could have slipped by us if she wasn't showing." He muses. "Thank you for your council, Helios."

"I am at the crown's service Magesty," He bows, silver hair flopping over his eyes.

Terrio turns away without another word and Helios heart is in his throat as he watches the man walk towards the charred ruins of the Old Castle. Once it had housed the royal family, the Palace residents, and the kitchens. But all of that had been moved to wings of the new palace. Ballrooms and portrait halls were converted to dorms for the staff and apartments for the royal family. Any trace of the Selene's erased from their home.

Helios walks into the small room within his shrine and closed the door, taking a fresh stick of incense off the shelf and lighting it with one of the many candles spaced around the room.

He places the incense in its bowl before the stained glass image at the back of the room. Sunlight illuminates the golden haired King and Queen in blue and white robes holding a staff between them, a golden crystal shining like a star at the head of the staff. Helios kneels before the incense and the image, struggling to calm his racing heart and enter meditation.

He is a terrible liar, always has been. It is why he has never quite lied to Terrio, not really. He is loyal to the crown. He just hopes the King never questions which one.

~_paxlunae_~

Across the Palace grounds in the burnt out skeleton of the Old Castle, Terrio walks carefully through ashes that still smolder in places and takes in the remains of the grand structure - portrait frames melting on the bricks that struggle to hold them aloft, the black dust that flies through crumbling doorways, and the fallen staircases. He circles the perimeter three times before walking up and down the middle of the ruin. He scuffs his boots on still exposed bones, crushed skulls, and half melted dolls. His sharp blue eyes seek out anything, any clue that could corroborate his theory.

Eventually his boot thunks against metal. It's a guardsman's helmet - half melted and dented where it has been crushed in by a brick. Nearby is a skull with a crack across the side, right where the helmet was crushed. He stoops to pick it up and stares hard at the teeth. Some are missing in the back, and they appear crooked. There looks like an old fracture where the jaw has healed slightly off. It's shoddy healing and the teeth are not well cared for; this isn't someone of noble blood. He regards it's size and angles. It could, perhaps, be the guardsman's remains.

The place where it has been found is not out of the ordinary. It must have once been a hallway. There are the ruins of stairs crumbling nearby - as if the guardsman had run down them right before his head was based in by a flying brick.

Suddenly the light catches something shining in the ashes by the man's helmet. It's a bracelet. He picks it up. It's quite well made and not meant for the man it's fallen near. Pearls and sapphires are inlaid in the the golden chain - royal colors.

Terrio curses and tosses the skull to the ground, feet racing back to his throne room and his soldiers.

The Princess he's suspected of being alive for seven moons might well have orchestrated the end of him. All because no one had thought to tell him of her common lover!

~_p__axlunae_~

The smell of roses filled the room as Helios prayed. "Show me the guardian," he whispers.

A piercing light flooded into his closed eyes, and he winced at the sudden headache it brought on. Maintaining his focus, he watched as the light resolved itself into the image of a swaddled infant with a full head of golden hair and the crescent mark of an Earth guardian on their forehead. The distinctive amber eyes of the royal family looked curiously out at the world around them.

A name came to him - _Serenity. _She was the latest of Ra's chosen, blessed with the power of the Sol System's legendary first guardian.

"I shall guide her, Great Lady," he promised. "I shall not let her fall under Terrio's thumb."

_~À suivre~_


	3. Of Spirits and Bargains

Disclaimer: I don't own it, but I love it. And I hope you all love this chapter.

AN: The plot is picking up the pace. And a familiar face appears in this chapter – but it's probably not a face you ever wanted to see again. Enjoy ;)

Of Spirits and Bargains

Terrio seethes. He slams the door of his private apartments and moves through the lounge room, metal toed boots clacking violently against the floorboards. He barely notices Queen Portia relaxing on the couch. "There has to be a solution he mutters.

"Terrio, what on this Earth."

"It's spread to the Palace," he growls. "Do you know what they're talking about in the servants quarters, on the back stairs, in the damn kitchens?"

"Do you mean the Guardian?" Portia leans against the study door with a hand over her stomach, the baby's kicking _again_, as she watches Terrio frantically rifle through the bookshelves. All of the scrolls came from the private library of the Selene family, liberated from the old Palace before it was burned. Terrio rips scrolls from their holders, wrenches them apart and scans the titles before throwing them on the floor. "What are you doing?"

"They're talking about the Guardian, yes. Every last damn one. Every resident of this palace – even Sir. Brutus – and he has been my supporter since the beginning. They are all talking about the Guardian," He growls. "I told them all it would be a child of the new royal blood. And it is not. Now do you know what they think?"

Portia swallows. "That you're a fraud."

"That I not worthy of the crown." He throws a scroll at the window, cracking the glass. "Even those who hated the Selene's question me. Because apparently the blessing of 'The Planet' can dissuade even those who supported the rebellion from its infancy."

"Can we not simply take the Guardian in as your bastard?" Terrio's head jerks up in response. "I can deal with the whispers, but I won't lose the throne."

Her husband passes one of his scrolls back and forth between his hands. "It had not occurred to me. I would rather just kill the Selene brat."

"Is that wise?"

"No," He throws the scroll onto the desk and leans over it, bracing his hands on the elegant wood. "Not when the people love her as they do."

"And it seems bad luck to me – to kill Ra's chosen. Not just in a blasphemous sense either. This could be the generation the next great evil invades. We could ruin more than just our kingdom by throwing off the cycle."

"All fair concerns," the Usurper drums his fingers on the desk. "That doesn't solve our problem though. The people already know of the Guardian. I've heard a few have seen her and apparently she looks just like a Selene. It won't take long for the commoners to piece together. When they do…who will need me as King with a Guardian to lead them."

"So the problem is?"

"I need to make them forget," he scowls. "But it would seem that despite his extensive collection of histories, poetry, and encyclopedias, Octavius Selene had not an ounce of interest in magic."

"You think you'd find a spell to make the whole city – the whole planet even – forget about the Selenes. They've ruled this planet since the Age of Ra herself."

"Well there must be something!" he punches the mahogany desk. "We have a crystal which at full strength can produce ten years worth of a bountiful harvest, and I've yet to make it do more than sprout a flower. There are countless weapons in the armoury and a horde of Priests and Priestesses with magic – unlike Helios – that could engender good will towards me. And I have access to none of them."

"It doesn't even sound like a spell that they would do, this sounds more like… no, never mind."

"What?" His dark blue eyes dart up to her face. "What, Portia?"

"There's an old Earth spirit – they say it rewards great amibition…but she's quite dangerous. I've been reading the King's journals about it. It caused quite a bit of trouble from its prison when he was a prince."

"Any trouble for the old regime is trouble I'd be willing to deal with to be rid of them. The tables can always be turned."

Portia bites her lip. "The enemy of your enemy is not always a friend."

"Well if the Selenes could contain them then so can I – I killed the Selenes. The spirit will favour me."

"Just…be careful."

"Where can I find the books about this spirit?"

"They're the old King's journals... they're in a chest in the Catacombs" Portia shakes her head. "Whatever you do, don't agree to set it free. It's a nasty creature."

"What is its name?"

"Metalia."

~_paxlunae_~

A week later, Terrio rides out into the foothills of the barrier mountains between their valley and the desert with a well trained squire in toe. He carried an amulet in his pocket. Throughout the hours long ride he keeps a hand over it. It feels hot in his pocket, perhaps it's only the long ride, and he swears it gets warmer as they approach the hills.

They hike into the foothills on horseback until they find the cave – a deep cavern ripped into the earth by some ancient earthquake. Terrio lights a torch and he and the squire repel down into the cave.

They walk beneath the earth for miles, sometimes going down, sometimes up. The deeper they travel, the lighter the cavern seems – red and orange stones cast angry light through it, growing in size as they near the center. Eventually they reach a formation in the stone that is smooth and carved with ancient pictographic script. Terrio places the amulet against the stone, and the squire jumps when it groans and moves, swinging open to reveal a cavern tinted completely in scarlet and purple light.

Within, in a stalagmite cage, a shapeless demon gazes at them. It doesn't look anything like the spirit described in the journals; Terrio smirks. It is no larger than an average human and ripples of maroon and purple flared out from its black body.

It trains fully red eyes on Terrio. "A King, but not a King, here to gawk at me."

"Hardly" He holds up the amulet for the spirit to see. "I have read the old King's journals – you are locked up here because you have great power. It took the last Guardian and a whole contingent of Ra's irritating followers to put you here."

He shines the gem in the light "That power…is something I now need."

"Oh how interesting." The spirit hisses. Beside him his squire shifts from foot to foot, hand clenching around his sword. "And you will free me if I grant you that power."

"Unfortunately no." Terrio examines the Amulet. "As much as I hate the old monarchy, I can't deny their logic in putting you here. I don't quite trust you, you understand."

"Then how am I to earn your good will?" Metalia sneers. "Give me the power, human, and I shall show you what I am capable of."

"I want something from you first – and believe me I think you will find it ammeanable."

"Oh."

"I can use this amulet, and I can give your…are they golems? Youma? I can give them access to the protected lands and people. I believe that should satisfy your desire for energy."

"They can yes," Three shadows spring up outside the edges of the cage. Terrio grips the amulet tighter. "Let me send them out on one first mission and I shall have plenty of power to grant whatever request you desire."

"I want my request granted first." Terrio insists and the spirit retracts the Youma shadows and growls.

"I do not have the _energy_ you fool!"

"And that is why I have brought you some." Terrio grabs the squire by the back of his tunic and throws the boy towards the stalagmite cage. "He is unprotected – a peace offering."

Before the squire can do more than scream, the spirit is apon him. Metalia's youma drag the boy into the cage and Metalia's dark form consumes his. Terrio watches with growing apprehension and interest as within the spirit, the boy's body writhes and convulses, white like draining from him into Metalia. His energy melds with its black and red body, which expands quickly until it is three times the size of a man and pressed up to the roof of the cage."

"Such a strong energy." A shadow tongue flicks out of where the demon's mouth would be. "What is it you require of me, King of Earth. Give me more energy such as this and I will grant whatever the request."

"I need the people of earth to forget the Selenes. I need them to think the clan never existed.

Metalia laughs, it sounds like an avalanche. "release two of the lands protected by that amulet to me and I shall see what can be done."

"I will give you one to start"

"Then the forgetting shall have to be a little at a time. With only a little energy, I will not have enough power for more than one city."

"If you can cast the spell on Central Ellisium, then I shall see what I can do."

"That is…acceptable."

"Then let it be done." He murmers the spell of unsealing into the amulet with a clear intention in mind. There is a farming community that has had a bad harvest this year and requires assistance he cannot provide. If Metalia can remove them as a problem for him that will only sweeten this deal. The amulet glows to signal his spell has gone into effect, and the moment it does three youma are flying from the cavern, darting towards the outside world and the areas now accessible to them.

"I shall be in touch." He says to the spirit and walks quickly from the cavern, hearing the deep laughter of Metalia all the way out of the cave and down to where they left the horses.

He swallows the knot of anxiety in his throat. He can deal with Metalia, and keep it contained.

~_paxlunae_~

The fog rolls through Ellysium just after midnight, sweeping into every window, every home, and even the Palace, though it is bared at the doorways of Ra's temples.

All around the city people sleep on, breathing the fog into their lungs. When they wake up, everything is exactly the same as they left it. The pantry needs to be restocked with root vegetables and grains, the rising sun is making a beautiful red hue over the horizon, and the long established line of Terrio is still in power and expecting their newest royal child. It is, for all, a day like any other.

So it is easy, early that next morn, to seek out the husband of the Guardian's nurse. That woman might live in the temple protected, but her husband had breathed in the fog the same as any other. When he hears a rumor that the baby his wife nurses is actually the King's – whom the Priestesses are holding hostage and whom Terrio offers a reward if any man brings the child to the palace – he abandons his carpentry for the morning and races to the temple.

And his wife's so supportive of him taking their little one and her charge out for a stroll. He puts both babies in slings across his chest and walks them freely out of the temple with no ill intentions – exactly as Terrio had hoped – and strolls at a fast pace up to the Palace gates. The Captain of the Guard himself escorts him to the Royal Audience chamber.

"Thank you good man," the warm ocean blue eyes that have always belonged to the monarchs smile at him. "You shall be rewarded handsomely."

"Thank you my King – it is an honor to deliver the Princess to her family." He bows low. "It is only sad she has not inherited the Terran eyes, your highness."

He sees Terrio smile, teeth flashing, and regard the girl's strange amber eyes amused. "Well, nothing is ever truly perfect."

"What shall his Majesty call her – if I am permitted to ask."

"You know, I have only just learned about her, I hadn't quite thought of it."

"They call her Serenity," the carpenter offers.

"No, no that won't do." Terrio pulls at his mustache. "But if she must look nothing like me, she could at least bare my name." He taps the girl's nose, grinning when she giggles. "Terra – yes, that will do nicely."

The Carpenter is overjoyed. He goes back to his work for the day and does not think anything of the transaction. By lunch his wife is home and yelling at him – why has he done such a thing. He yells right back. What can't she understand, there was a handsome reward, the child is with her family now. What does it matter the nonsense of some priestsess.

By dinner time to fog is back, by morning his wife has forgotten why she fought with him at all.

And as the Priestesses safe in the temple pray and plot and try desperately, but to no effect to get Serenity back from the palace, the Princess passes her first month mark completely unaware that all in Ellysium – and as the year passes by the rest of the Earth – have forgotten the significance of her eyes and her hair. She settles into her new home, her new caretakers, and her new name, as innocently as any other child.

_~À suivre~_


	4. Terra

Disclaimer: I don't own it. Which is just fine. I'll own my own original works in the future. For now, I'm happy I can practice with the Sailorverse.

AN: jumping ahead a bit. Lets check in on Serenity, though that's not what she's being called now. Don't forget to let me know how you like it, I'd love the feedback. And check in next weekend for Chapter 5!

~_paxlunae_~

Terra

~_fifteen years later_~

Parry. Thrust. Block. Dodge, twist, and swing. Her body moves with practiced ease through each step. Someone hoots as a glint of silver comes down near her ear.

A lock of golden hair drifts down to the ground.

"Is that the best you've got?" Terra taunts, dipping the sword low towards the Prince's knees. Augusto rushes through the block, sparks fly as their blades glance off each other. She moves seamlessly to a two handed grip to put her weight behind the next swing. Their blades lock. She spins away. Prince Augusto pants as he resets his stance.

The courtyard around them is eerily silent. She can see a good crowd of servants around them, and a few knights from the shine of armour under the sun – all eager to watch and hesitant to cheer.

Augusto makes another of his reckless charges, sword poised to stab into her chest. She steps up on her toes as he runs at her, waits for precisely the right moment, and steps aside, out of reach. He swings the sword to follow her and stumbles, weigh pitching him off balance. She meets his blade and twists hers, wrenching the broadsword from Augusto's grip and pushing him onto the ground. He hits with a dull thud, dust rising off the dry summer earth. Terra moves in quickly, blade coming down just under his chin, pressing lightly into his jugular.

"Yield."

"Alright, alright, I yield." He ignores her offered hand and pushes himself off the ground, jerking his head down in a stiff nod. She bows low in return, but he's already moving on, shuffling over to his sword.

"You should work on centring your balance." She observes.

"Yeah, yeah." Augusto grumbles. She walks over to her sword sheath and jacket on the courtyard fence. Cornelia, her friend and maid, holds the sword as she puts the jacket back on.  
"Well fought, Milady." She whispers, a small smile on her face.

"Thank you."

"You know, I could beat anyone else – I _do_ beat everyone else," Augusto rants. "It's just your stupid guardian powers."

"You should still work on your balance," she calls. But the younger prince is already storming off towards his rooms – likely to stew over his defeat in a bath or talk a servant's ear off.

"He's just in an off mood, milady," Cornelia says.

"He's been in an off mood for months," Terra sighs. "Ever since we got our new sword instructor and he started getting after August to learn from how _I _did it." She rubs a hand over her face. "What did he think was going to happen?"

"I suspect the prince is only frustrated that he thought Ra's favour would be on his side, as a royal."

"You mean he thought no bastard could really be as good as him," she challenges. Cornelia staunchly avoids her eyes. "It's fine if you say it, Cornelia. I don't care that he's pig-headed."

"Milady you shouldn't talk about the prince that way."

"Why – he is, and I'm sick of all of you saying I should mind him." Her hand clenches over the pommel of the sword. "_Guardian powers_. I practice with Moonlight for three hours a day and suddenly it's my guardian powers that make me the better swordsman." She shakes her head. "If someone's not honest with him he's just going to die in battle because he can't fight." They walk on through the yards towards the smoking chimneys over the kitchens.

"I doubt that Milady, it's peace time." Cornelia smiles. "Under the great Terrio it has always been peacetime."

"I dunno, do you ever get feelings? Or dreams? About war and…and other things… and you just get this sense that they're real?"

Cornelia shakes her head and steps ahead to pull open the kitchen doors, waving Terra inside. "No, milady. I'd bet that's the guardian powers. You'd be better off asking those of Ra's order bout them."

"Yeah I'd better, pity they never leave the temples. I barely even see Helios out and about."

"Actually – Oh! Marsha, get me and milady some of the bread – thanks." She takes the steaming loaf from the head chef and passes it to Terra. "Come on and sit down with us, there was a Priestess out in the courtyard today."

Terra slides onto the stool at the worn wooden table and leans forward eagerly. "There was, really?"

"Oh yes – she watched your whole fight with the Prince, looked…sad actually?" Cornelia shakes her head. "Then again, what do I know about priestesses? They're all a bit reclusive."

"And I thought it was just Helios." Terra laughs as she takes a bite of the bread. They always save the best for her. It's nice – not like at formal dinners where she always gets the last pick. Even being the guardian, she has to know her place after all. "Why was she here?" She asks Cornelia, grinning when one of the kitchen staff drops a wedge of cheese in front of her. These people always treat her like their own.

"She's being sworn in today – as the new Mother of the Temple here. The city's been all a buzz about it because apparently this Priestess was something of a disgrace years ago. I don't know anything about it, but she looked quite official out in the garden today." Cornelia's hands flutter in front of her as she talks. "She had this stunning veil on – gold, you know. It shown in the sun, but you were too busy swinging that blade of yours to notice – and her robes were _beautiful_. Only thing I would have changed was this great big amulet around her neck. It clashed horribly – all old leather and grey wood and string. And it had green paint."

"Like the one Helios wears when he comes outside?" Terra asks, she drums her fingers on the table as a nagging unease settles in them. Guardian feelings again, _couldn't just tell me what they want to tell me._ She thinks as she reaches for the cheese wedge and breaks a chunk off. _A load of good that does_.

"It was very similar, yeah." Cornelia tears a piece of bread away for herself. "I think you should ask Helios about her – maybe he knows why she's so controversial – I mean if milady permits me to suggest it."

"Stop it, I hate it when you're formal." Terra throws a bread crust at her. "All of you you're all 'milady' this and 'your highness' that." She slumps in her seat. "But I'm not – Augusto and the other princes and princesses, I'm not their sister. And I don't even get to call his Majesty ' father anymore."

"What do you mean mi-Terra?" Cornelia reaches across the table to put a hand on her arm. All sounds in the kitchen seem to have paused. Cooks and assistants and even pages have stopped their chores to listen. "Is this about that fight?"

Terra had come back to her rooms last week fuming and promptly slammed the door, gone to bed, and jerked the curtains shut around her. When Cornelia had gotten up from folding her clothes and tried to go see what was wrong, Terra had yelled that she didn't want to talk about it and dismissed her for the rest of the day.

Terra stared down at the kitchen table. "Yeah…I asked him about training on the other worlds again."  
"Oh no," Cornelia murmurs.  
"I guess you could say he still won't budge on the issue," Terra sighs.

"_You ungrateful brat! I have told you multiple times, no. You think you are not given the best instruction in the Sol System right here? I paid the worth of the crown jewels to commission the best Martian Sword Master just to teach you. You've had the best tutors from Ellysium to Mercury. And still – you would leave Earth unprotected for untold years to go study that which you have already learned?"_

"_It's not about –" _

"_Oh don't go there. 'I want to know the people I'm defending.' Do you know how exhausting it is to deal with them? They might share our sun but they're not our friends. And you defend Earth first. Do you understand? That is your mission as a Guardian. That is your prerogative from your King."_

"_Father, please. Just listen."_

"_You have the nerve," he snorts. "You shouldn't get to call me father if you're to be so disrespectful. I am the reason you're the Guardian at all and not some street rat drowned in the gutters." He glares at her. "In fact, I think if you're not going to respect me as a child should, then don't address me as father at all. Your Majesty will do, remember I didn't have to give you a room in my home."_

"_Yes… your Majesty."_

The words still taste bitter in her mouth a week later. She has tried to avoid her father since.

"Well," Cornelia says. "Just give him time milady. It must be stressful dealing with all those other worlds. Yah know, I've heard some of them are ten times as big as us – who knows what kinds of tensions go on between them and our tiny world. Besides," Cornelia grins, "it's peace time. Maybe you'll never have to be anyone's Guardian at all.

Terra stares at her half eaten lunch and shakes her head trying to dispel the feeling in her gut. "Maybe."

_But I want to be a Guardian_. She thinks, reaching for the power that is her birthright, which is marked for all to see by the crescent on her forehead. _I need to. It calls to me_.

She sighs. "Anyways, would you mind taking Moonlight back to the armoury for me?" She stands from the table. "I'm going to…go meditate."

"Of course, Lady Terra."

Maybe it's the day or maybe her senses are going haywire, but she shivers as Cornelia says her name; it's like someone's dropped ice down her tunic.

_Maybe it's cause I'm not a Lady at all_, she scowls as she pushes open the door to the Kitchen and veers off towards the rose gardens. _Even my powers are trying to remind me I'm a bastard_.

_~À suivre~_


	5. Whoever Wields The Golden Crystal

Disclaimer: I certainly don't own this, all I own is this computer and some dreams and that ain't making any money on anything.

AN: as always enjoy…and review? I love to know what you think. And if I get five, I will post the next chapter before next weekend. I could even post it tomorrow (literally it's sitting in my notebook begging to be posted). Guess it depends how many people like this. ;)

Whoever Wields The Golden Crystal

Terra breathed in the smell of the roses as she settled in the middle of the garden. She closed her eyes and trained them up towards the warm rays of the sun so that only it's warm red light shining through her eyelids filled her vision.

_Always meditate towards the sun_, Helios had told her since she was seven. _Your power comes from it – from Sol. Someday you shall unlock your true powers and become Sailor Sol_.

When will that be, she's always asked him. She has yet to even transform into Sailor Earth.

_In a time of great need_.

Doubling down on her thoughts – Helios also says no good comes of dwelling on doubts – Terra lets the smell of roses and warmth of the sunlight pull her away from the physical world. The aches from her sword fight fade. The tickle of the wind across her cheeks ceases to distract her.

She lets the sunlight fill her.

_Lady Ra, _she addresses the goddess – the first guardian of Sol, from a time even before the duty of guardianship fell each generation to a different one of the nine worlds. _Help me understand these dreams._

A prickling feeling at the back of her head ushers in the vision, no, she realizes, a memory.

~_paxlunae_~

"Your Majesty, due to the blight we shan't even have enough grain to supply the palace through the winter." The representative of their largest farming fiefdom kneels low to the ground after speaking, beard just brushing the floor.

On his gold gilded throne atop the dais, Terrio hums. Terra tilts her head and stands on tip toes to see over tall Prince Ronan's shoulder. The farthest of the children from the throne, and the second shortest next to Celia, it's always so hard to see. She catches a glimpse of Terrio tapping his chin, his eyebrows furrowed.

"There are no stores of any crops?"

"A fire in our village's barn destroyed most of them, Majesty."

"Such a shame," Terrio mutters. "Very well – I'll see what I can do." He summons a servant. "Fetch the crystal." He tells the young girl.

All of the children immediately turn to watch their father, propriety abandoned, and it frees Terra to do the same. Proper decorum can always be excused in these instances. They have only seen the King brandish the golden crystal a few times. But this will be the first that Terra has seen of him attempting to wield it.

The servant girl rushes back into the throne room, crystal brought in on a violet cushion from a nearby ante chamber. All members of the household and the gathered citizens gasp at the small object resting on the plush velvet. The golden crystal spreads light from it's own core into the lamp lit chamber, warming everything in it's soft glow.

"I should warn you," Terrio says to the gathered audience as he picks up the crystal, "that royal blood does not guarantee results. The ancient magic of the Earth is a fickle thing." He cups the crystal in both hands. "When I manage to extract any power from it, it is never at the level myth claims."

Terra frowns as she cranes around Ronan to see. The King speaks with the same half smile he does when he cheats the knights at cards. Terra struggles not to frown as she realizes his next words – "but for my people, I shall try" – are not so sincere as they sound.

Her father stares into the crystal's depths until beads of sweat drip down his nose. His hands tremble. Finally, he sighs. "I have seen the blight, though a few acres are now free, it is not nearly the harvest of before…such a shame." He goes to place the crystal back on its cushion.

"Father wait." Prince Augusto, the eldest child and closest to the throne, steps out of the line of children. "Doesn't the crystal work differently for each royal?"

"Yes," Terrio says, quirking an eyebrow at his son.

"Well, isn't it possible that one of us can rescue the crop with it?" He gestures between himself and his siblings. And, of course he averts his eyes from her, Terra notices.

Terrio however stares for quite a while at her as he ponders, though she supposes he could simply be looking at Ronan.

"Perhaps," Terrio turns to Portia on the small throne beside his, then he looks out at the expectant faces of his citizens and servants. "Yes, all right, let's see." He waves the servant girl over to Augusto.

Augusto grins as the crystal is presented to him and snatches it off the cushion. He clutches it too tightly in his hands, Terra can't help feeling like her heart is being squeezed watching. Is she feeling the crystal's pain?

It's long minutes before a frustrated groan escapes Augusto's clenched teeth. "Stupid rock."

"May I try?" His sister Nora doesn't give him a chance to answer before she's plucked the crystal from his hands. She holds it up to her eyes, admiring the light. "Please work, ancient crystal. Please."

Terra already knows it isn't going to work. The crystal's light is even dimming as Nora holds it.

"Lemme try!" her twin, and the shortest prince, Gaius says. He grabs the crystal as his sister passes it. "You're making it go out!"

"Am not!"

"Children," their father glares. They quiet again, Gaius focusing on the crystal. "I don't feel anything," he sighs. Then he shoves it at twelve year old Celia. "Here."

Celia shrugs and quirks and eyebrow at the golden crystal. "Sorry, it's not going to work for me either," and as quickly as she received it, she passes it up to Ronan. "Here, Ronan still believes in fairies, maybe he'll get it to work."

"They're nymphs," he mutters. "They're in all the books if you'd only read them." He trains his curious blue eyes on the crystal. Terra watches them widen excitedly. "Oh! Woah, I can feel it."

"Feel what Ronan?" Terrio demands, sitting straighter in his seat. Everyone seems to lean closer to the youngest prince. "Can you wield it, son?"

"It's warm," he murmurs. "It's like… I feel – Oh!"

"Yes?" Terrio demands.

"Oh no, it's not working for me, but I think it's trying to say it wants to go to Terra," he smiles at her.

"That's nonsense," their father scoffs. "She has little chance if not even a full royal can control it."

He stands and begins walking quickly towards them, beckoning for the crystal, but Ronan is already offering it to her. She must try, her hand reaches of its own accord, just once.

The whole throne room holds its breath as her hand touches the warm, smooth, gem stone.

No sooner have her fingers curled all the way around it than the whole room has exploded with a blinding golden light. It floods the stone chamber, and seems to fill her as she sees her amber gaze reflected back in its depths.

"Oh." Her eyes water as she is drawn in by the crystal's light, her spirit fusing with it. As the light fills her, her gaze travels into the gem and far beyond it. "I see…" there is the blight in the farmlands, wound into the roots of the dead and dying grain. "That's not how it should be," she whispers. Her spirit travels through the earth miles and miles away from Ellysium proper out into the farms and fields. She burns the blight from the soil, overwhelmed as the crystal reacts to her thoughts. She channels energy back into the grain, whole fields awash in golden power sprout back to life. She feels each speck of life spark back into being – growing tall again – bringing hope back to the whole river valley.

"This is amazing." She sinks further into the earth, down into the heart of it. She aches to see all of her beautiful world.

North of the valley and Ellysium, high in the foothills and caves of the border mountains that hold back the desert, a darkness leeches away at life. Could it be more blight? She trains the crystal's power towards it.

She gasps. Her vision shatters as the crystal is roughing torn from her hands. She stumbles back, caught in someone's arms, as her mind crashes back into her body. Her empty hands shake.

As the world comes back into focus she sees the King's leather boots and then his fist, where the crystal is clutched, diming rapidly.

"That's enough, Terra. Look you've gone and over exerted yourself." He squeezes the crystal. "It's very fortunate you can control it, but I think it's time you rest." He nods to someone over her head. "Escort her to her chambers."

_No! Give it back to me!_ She feels the pain piercing into the heart of her. "It's mine." She struggles to stand on her own, wobbling as the person holding her – Cornelia – tries to support her.

"Its power has addled you," Terrio tuts. He beckons forth the young servant girl and replaces the crystal on its cushion. "I did warn you it's quite unpredictable."

She wants to argue, to explain, it had felt so right to wield. But exhaustion drags at her. She let's Cornelia guide her to her room.

~_paxlunae_~

_That was three days before the first dream, _Terra recalls. _Did the crystal trigger these visions?_

They come to her again: wars, fires, a palace burning down to its foundations. But most sinister is the darkness. It's always within people, draining them until they're pale and sickly and using them as its puppets. They wander in her dreams, stumbling and running over eachother intent on death and destruction. Their eyes always blank – as though the pupil has been swallowed by the iris.

She shivers and forces the visions back. She must look at them carefully. They cannot overwhelm her focus.

Regaining her breathing pattern, she lets the dreams filter back into her mind, wandering between them. The darkness, she recalls. What is it about the darkness?

_Like the dark area in the mountains, _she thinks. _I thought it was more blight…but they didn't feel the same. _Though for the life of her she cannot confirm that it feels the same as the darkness in her dreams. She had not gotten a good look. No matter what angle of thought she comes at her brief view of the mountains from, it all shatters before her, the jarring feeling of being wrenched back into her body, power stripped away, has blocked any observations of the darkness from her.

_And why did he take it away_! She asks Ra, _why say I probably couldn't use it_.

She strains her thoughts, but nothing comes to her. The image of the golden crystal blinds her.

"_It's mine!_"

_My brain was not addled, _she rages.

Shaking her head, she tries _again_ to keep her thoughts empty, training her face again towards the sun.

_What am I not seeing_? she begs. _Show me something, anything._

The prickling feeling at the back over her head promises her that another vision is on its way, she breaths a deep breath of roses and opens her mind to whatever it is.

And in the isolation of the rose garden, awareness trained elsewhere, she cannot know that three people watch her intently, all with a vested interest in the blond guardian who tilts her face up to the sun.

~_À Suivre_~


	6. The Calm Before The Storm

Disclaimer: [Standard disclaimer here]

AN: We're in the eye of the storm here. Brace yourselves because it'll be high seas and heavy winds approaching by chapter's end. Sorry this is a day late as well. I was sick yesterday and had to leave finishing this until after work.

The Calm Before The Storm

A ways off from where the young guardian of Earth meditates, the two priests – one in gold the other in white and blue – stand in the doorway of the palace shrine.

"So you have not been able to tell her anything?" The woman says, tucking her hair back out of the wind. The light of the sun highlights the wisps of gray in her brown locks. Age, she thinks firmly, it is age not stress. It is irrelevant that she caught sight of the first one a week after learning she had been selected to succeed the previous Mother Priestess. She can handle things. And she is nearly 40, or course she is going grey.

"I told you," Helios murmurs. His voice is softer than she imagined, as though caution fills him even in the relative protection of his home.

"Your oath to King Terrio, yes… we're aware that you had to make it. But it isn't magical in nature, is it? It can be broken."

Helios sighs. "He is not capable of making the oath itself magically binding. I can speak to Ser –Terra about the truth…but he can listen." Helios pulls up the sleeve of his robe for her to see. A bronze band is welded to his wrist. "He wears a ring of the same metal. And if I am speaking to Terra, it allows him to listen in." He turns his gaze towards the towering stone palace. "He has someone under his grasp I value more than my life."

"Who?" she whispers.

"My son, Phaeton, lives in the palace – Prince Ronan's companion."

They're quiet for a while, until Helios speaks again.

"I suppose there are ways I could inform her – she is a bright girl – but I risk so much Mother, your predecessesor understood that. And Terra is mostly happy, the universe is not in peril, and Terrio has not been a bad king."

"Not bad! Are you so blind?" The Mother glares up at him, though he feels like the short one. Despite her young age, he can see the conviction of eons old wisdom burning in her eyes. "If you could only see beyond the palace grounds – beyond this shrine and these gardens – you would not think it so." She turns briefly back to the gardens to make sure no one is around, but the rows of roses are calm and empty save the small figure meditating out of ear shot.

The Mother whispers,"whole families disappear off the streets. Mostly the poor, the ones who won't be missed. I hear tell too from the temples in the other regions that those who seek their charity have been going missing."

"For how long."

"Near as I can tell since Serenity was born. We don't know how it's happening, but I've no doubt the King's behind it." She settles back against the doorframe as Helios digests the information. Her hand comes up to fiddle with the green amulet around her neck. "He tried to make me forget today."

Helios stiffens, his breath hitches and his hand come up to touch the green amulet around his own neck.

"Yes, he knows now why we're protected outside the temples – he tried a spell when he accepted me as the new Mother Priestess and the amulet glowed. He couldn't do anything to me in that big audience chamber – but he's not pleased that the Order of Ra remains outside his control."

Helios sighs. "He's been so content to leave us be."

"Something changed." The Mother looks out again on the girl in the garden, shifting restlessly as she tries to mediate. In the late afternoon sun her golden hair nearly glows. "I know you fear for your son Helios," she says as she steps out into the sunlight and pulls up the hood of her golden robes. "But an entire Kingdom suffers for your cowardice. Somehow, you must get Serenity to me."

~_paxlunae_~

Far above the shrine and the gardens, the King also watches his ward. Terrio holds the old golden amulet in his hands, thumb running across the purple jewel and the worn ruin carvings. It isn't long before a shadow materializes in the glass of the window. Red eyes blink open as the shadow fills the windowpane.

"Usurper," Metalia whispers (though the shadow has no mouth to speak with). Terrio forces himself not to step back. The demon might be unsettling, but damnit he still controls it. "Why do you call me so close to my hunting time?"

"I have a deal for you." He tells the demon, the quicker he could get down to business the quicker he could banish the shadow.

"We have a deal already, unless you're willing to grant me more cities of marvellous energy."

"I'll consider cities, no I think you're forgetful spell might be waning. I need you to blanket Ellysium again – tonight."

"Take take take and not any sort of fair payment. What deal is this false King?"

"I can't give you entire cities," he glares at it, though Metalia's eyes show no reaction of any kind. "They're too obvious."

"Well the wretches of your world are no energy that can sustain my magic." The demon hisses. "I need fresher energy, more energy."

"I know, I know." He clenches his hand over the amulet. He can't risk the respectable citizens or their taxes. But who else…"

"It is after the harvest," he muses. "There is a farming province in the southeast – the largest one – its land and soil are newly refreshed with the golden crystal's light. The people are full of excitement. They are mid-festival."

"Delicious," Metalia's shadow grows and tendrils of purple spread through its shadow. Terrio smirks. If that satisfies it…

"You can raze the place to the ground as long as Elysium is blanketed in fog by midnight. Concentrate on the temples of Ra."

"You know I cannot pass those grounds."

"Just surround them."

"Very well false king."

"Stop calling me that!" He yells, but the shadow flares brightly and disappears, the vibrant garden again visible beyond the glass.

"Father?"

He whips around, stuffing the amulet into his pocket. "Ronan, what are you doing in my study?"

"N-nothing…the Captain of the guard asked me to deliver you a message."

"Well what is it."

"He said…father who were you talking to."

"None of your concern – what does my guard want Ronan."

His youngest son shifts from foot to foot in the doorway. "Just to say that Augusto is asking to join them on patrol tonight."

"Fine." Wait, he thinks and groans, holding up a finger to signal Ronan he has more to say. "Not tonight, tell Augusto he must complete his reading on strategy tonight. His chess tutor is not pleased with him."

"Yes father," Ronan bows a little, black hair flopping over his eyes.

"And Ronan," He says, stopping the boy as he rushes out of the door. "I wasn't talking to anyone."

~_paxlunae_~

She doesn't get up from the ground until the last rays of the sun have been swept up by the horizon. She groans and sprawls out on the cool earth, all her muscles protesting the long hours sitting so still.

And for what? Her visions today had been haphazard and more confusing than enlightening. Each time she successfully settled herself into a trance she's only pulled what felt like tiny puzzle pieces of a picture out of the air. And none of them – not one – fit together.

Especially the last

_Serenity_. _Princess Serenity_. It had been a woman's voice whispering to her – an exhausted voice for certain, and the only image to accompany it had been a blurry vision of her own strange eyes gazing back at her. The amber color was unmistakable.

"What good is me looking in a mirror calling someone _Princess Serenity_?" Terra whispers to the dark sky. "Maybe Portia's pregnant again."

No, that wasn't right, Queen Portia was almost certainly too old by now. Terra stares at the pinpricks of light dotting the night sky – distant suns of other worlds or so Helios says. If they're that small she can hardly fathom how far they are. And she can't even see Sol's other worlds from here.

Despite the season, the wind is cold against her arms and sandaled feet. Perhaps it's time to go to bed and…sleep on it.

As Terra makes her way through the rows of roses all varying shades of blue and purple under the night sky, she pulls all the visions to her mind one more time.

"The crystal…the crystal. Yeah so I can wield it better than the real royals, You didn't tell me what it meant." She frowns at the pitch black sky. "Meaning no offence."

Maybe a walk about will help her sort herself out. She thinks as her feet find the main stone path. She turns left instead of right, out towards the hunting forest at the edge of the Palace's lawn and wall in the west that divided it from the city. She lets her gaze wander between trees and imposing stone structures.

"My eyes…some princess…the ones in the middle with some... silver crystal." She sucks in the humid air and sighs it back out. "None of the planets have silver crystals so I'm stumped there…"

_Princess Serenity_. The voice seems so earnest. So insistent.

"Yeah, I got that one…it doesn't fit with anything." She reaches the wall and puts her fingers to the stones, tracing the cracks and dents and all the insects hidy-holes. "I don't even know if these are future or past." The vision of the blight-like darkness in the mountains comes to mind. She'd dwelt on it for quite a while. "That one's certainly present."

_Princess Serentiy_. The name nags at her, like a riddle. She kicks at the ground. Why is it so familiar when she's never heard of such a person in her life.

"What were the other visions?" Perhaps it would help to name them – like they do clouds and constellations.

She stops at the southeastern guard tower and turns back towards the palace, walking around the far side of a hedge maze. She's lost enough as it is.

_Let's call Princess S. the Omen_. She thinks. It certainly looms over her like one – whether good or bad. _The darkness…obviously The Monster. The crystal…Fate. Fate Monster, Omen…there was the glimpse I got of a cat…call her a Familiar. And that Charioteer_ – Terra's glad no ones around to see her blush. The way the charioteer in their green and steel armor had grinned at her – _Hopefully that's the future_. There had been one last vision.

_Pain_. But no, that's not quite right, it doesn't highlight the right details. The pain had been overwhelming of course, she'd fallen out of that vision quite quickly. It had seared her, flecks of debris stabbing her skin, overheating her. And she hadn't been able to breath.

_Could it have been fire_? She thinks. _I could just call it that_. And then she rounds the edge of the hedge maze, and happens to look right.

There, surrounded by guards barracks and gardens are the ruins. The old palace that burnt the year of her birth.

_If that was the past…perhaps I can learn something now_. She starts towards them. Taking care to toe out of her sandales lest their wooden soles clack loudly on the dirt and cobblestone paths. _No reason the guards have to know I'm here_. And she slips past their barracks, past a branch of the palace vinyards, and then through the crumbling southern wall of the ruin. The gaping hole could once have been a door. It's impossible to tell now.

"It was this fire." She whispers, eyes taking in the shadows of the walls – now all barely four feet high, and the patches of rich grass growing up over charred wooden supports and around the occasional brick.

She pads around the burnt out husk training her eyes at the regrowing ground. There's not much here anymore – not much at all. It's all been rotted or buried.

Her feet hit a strangely solit bit of earth – strange because the rest is soft and loose from grass and flowers and weeds. But all she feels is packed dirt.

She steps down again harder.

_Thud_.

Carefully, Terra crouches down on the earth, fingers carving into the spot she'd put her foot. She digs an inch, then another. Before her fingers scrap against something solid something smooth: metal.

She claws at the dirt with her finger nails and pushes soil and dust away with her palms.

"ouch!" she hisses, pulling her finger back as it catches on something. Curling the broken nail towards her palm she reaches back out for the thing that it caught on.

Warped and melted down of course she didn't see it. The middle has collapsed against the metal plate she was uncovering.

But it is still attatches at both short ends. She can easily see what it is – a handle.

Sending up a prayer, she wedges her fingers beneath the warped grip, curls them around it, and pulls.

A loud screech breaks the silence of the palace grounds as rust sprays up towards her face.

But it doesn't matter. It worked.

Even if it is pitch black down in the tunnel.

Well, she has mastered one useful guardian trick at least.

"By the power of Ra," she whispers. "Sailor Earth Power."

And the soft yellow light shines out from the cresent on her forhead, highlighting the outline of ancient stairs below the trap door.

"Here goes." And with cautious steps she descends into the tunnel, using a small stone keep the trap door just slightly open.

~_paxlunae_~

The loud screech of rusted hinges carried over the lawns, catching a few guards attention as the glanced around blurry eyed before flopping back down in their bunks, and putting frowns on the faces of confused servants up at late night chores.

But the sound caught one man's full attention. He shot out of bed and went to the window just in time to see the soft golden light spill over the guards barracks and then disappear behind them – into the ruins…into the ground."

"No." He rushes to pull on his boots. "Serenity," he curses as he runs from his home towards the burnt out husk across the lawns.

~À Suivre~


	7. The Forgetful Fog: Part One

Disclaimer: see first chapter

AN: This was originally one big chapter but I've been sick the second weekend in a row (Be forgiving of the grammar errors. I'm going to edit them when I'm less lightheaded. But I wanted to get this up because it's two days delinquent and I was super bugged about it.) 

Anyways, read, review, share, favourite, follow (Hearts to all of you who followed or favorited this week. There were a lot and it pushed me to keep writing despite feeling like shite warmed over.

But most importantly, enjoy.

The Forgetful Fog: Part One

When the fog came the first time, they didn't know the signals of its advance. Now, after fifteen years of its periodic return, The new Mother Priestess knows exactly what to look for. She is already riding at a fast trot down from the palace when the first flash of heat lightning crashes on the horizon. She slows her horse, because it has never done her good to be hasty, and counts. One gold piece, two gold pieces, three – Another flash sears across the darkening sky.

"Don't have much time then," she curses, and urges the horse into a canter, windows on the shops and homes along the Palace Way peek open as residents lean out to see the source of the fast hoof beats. She must be a sight – ceremonial golden habit flapping wildly behind her and her horse causing a racket so close to nightfall.

"Get inside!" she yells to the people out roaming the streets. She drives the horse down to the bottom of the hill and pulls the mare into a left turn onto the High Street without looking to see if anyone has listened.

Sweat has soaked through her robes by the time she and the horse burst through the temple gate. The heavy material sticks to her as she swings out of the saddle, passing the horse off to freckled, young initiate.

"Brush and water her for me," she tells the girl "Get it done and get inside, we don't have much time."

"Was it something that happened up at the palace?" the young woman asks.

"Later," she barks, hustling up the marble steps. "Gather everyone, and get me Zinea!" She calls, voice echoing from the Atrium into the central hall of the temple.

"Mother!" the eldest of the temple's daughters – Marta – rushes in to help her. "We saw it from the courtyard, the lightning."

"Is coming every three seconds," she says, pulling off the heavy outer robe. "That's two hours or so. I need everyone in the main hall, now."

"I sent two other sisters already," Marta says, taking the robe from her and folding it. "Do you need water?"

"I'm fine," she pants. "Just because I'm your superior now, don't treat me like I'm old."

"I hardly can given my age." She tucks a nearly white strand of hair behind her ears. "And Zinea's on her way,"

"Thank you," she clasps her hands behind her to hide their shaking. She knew the fog nights would be her responsibility when she accepted the post. Even so, she'd take the summer floods in a heartbeat.

Sisters stream into the circular hall from all sides, some having left their supper. She waits until she sees all fifty heads in the crowd, including the last one, the initiate who tended to her horse, rushing in from the Atrium.

"We don't have much time," she begins. "There is a fog two hours out. And I'm afraid many will still be out on the streets when it arrives. I need our best riders." She nods to the seven women who step out of the crowd. "Saddle your horses, you're to go pick up any homeless you see out on the streets and bring them here for the night." they rush out to do so. "Our running team, you know who are." Ten of her daughters nod. Many have brought their best shoes from their rooms and are already taking off their bulky outer clothes. "Cover the main streets – we don't have time for more tonight. Get as many people as you can to shelter inside. Remind them to stuff clothes under their doors and windows. Don't play the hero." She glares especially at Irina who matches her dark stare for dark stare. "Tell people. Tell them to tell their neighbors. Shout as you go, but don't waste time. And watch the cobblestones in Riverside." Irina winces. She'd nearly been lost to the fog last time twisting an ankle down there. "And I need ten of you who aren't runners to alert our neighbors. Cover the closest three blocks in all directions and come straight back. Farah?" She nods to the youngest full sister who's small frame swims in her white robe - barely out of her teens and already dedicated to their service. "You're not on the running squad, but you are fast, yes?"

"That is right, Mother."

"Then I need you to go to the neighborhood's up by the ford." She tells the girl. "Out where they've put the flood gates, you know it?"

"Sure it's…more than 10 miles from here…Mother I'm fast but even I can't get there and back in two hours."  
"I know, but you'll get there in time. Take this." She reaches behind her and unclasps the bronze clip of the green talisman. "It will protect you even in the thickest of the fog."

"The late Mother never took this off." Farah squeaks, fumbling to get the talisman around her neck.

"Bless her soul too, but I am not the old Mother," she looks around at the temple residents now staring at them and tries to keep her voice confident. "I will do some things differently." She motions for Farah to turn and checks the clasp. "Do not take it off. Do not let anyone take it off," she tells the girl.

"I'll be back by midnight." She promises and is off, unlike the other runners still in full robes. They billow out behind her like wings.

"The rest of you." She meets the eyes of each of the remaining twenty-two members of her temple. "Get the guest rooms ready – all of them – and start preparing extra food. Make sure it'll keep through the next two days."

"For what?"

She turns to look at the speaker as the majority of the sisters rush to their duties. It's the initiate who took her horse. "For the influx of guests we'll have tomorrow. Those who forget can be quite confused. We bring them all here and if they're missing their families we help them locate them.

"Does the fog really make you forget that much?" the girl asks.

The Mother looks at her carefully. "You're from the country aren't you?"

"Yes, Mother," she grins. "King's home province, got the best grapes in the whole of Elysium, we do."

Deep in her heart, an old ache makes itself known.

"I picked the same grapes as a child…it was a much different time. How old are you?"

"17."

"You were too young then, for the first fog. It doesn't affect children nearly as much." She rubs her temples. "And it hasn't returned to the country provinces as it has here…in the city we've seen it come five times."  
"_Five_."

"In fifteen years, yes. It infiltrates everything, make no mistake. A breath of it is enough to forget some specifics. People forget where they've left their coin purses or their stockings. The specific events that it is designed to banish from people's thoughts are also wiped out…but if you're caught out in the fog and you get more of it in your system, then you can forget much more."

"The first time it struck," Zinea says as she walks up to them, scroll under her arm, "two children brought their parents to us. The couple had forgotten their own names."

"Did they ever remember them?" the girl asks.

"The father did." The Mother says, "not the mother. It's rare to get any memories that are lost back at all."

"Oh." the girl shifts from foot to foot. "How can I help?"

"Go out to the pump in the yard and fill as many jugs of water as you can. We'll need plenty of it for the number of people who'll need our hospitality tonight." She watches the girl as she nods and runs off towards the kitchen. "Imagine she's never known the fog at all."

"Seeing a bit of yourself in her A-Mother" Zinea shakes her head. "I shall never get used to calling you that."

"No more than I'll get used to hearing it." She smiles widely at Zinea. "You brought a map."

"I did," Zinea unravels it, "We can mark down neighborhoods as we clear them."

"For all the good it does," she sighs. "If only we had the guardian to help."

~_paxlunae_~

By 21:00, the forgetful fog is rolling down from the mountains into Elysium, the heat lightning the only light penetrating the cloud covered sky.

Though three stories beneath the ground, it's presence goes un noticed. The soft light from her Guardian birthmark lights up the tunnel as Terra picks her way over loose stones that have fallen into the packed earthen floor over the long years.

The stairs had lead her down into a crypt, she realizes as her hands trace the barely legible carving on one of the large wall stones: _HRM Selene II_

She frowns, retracing the letters. She's never heard of this queen.

She traces each name with her fingers as she winds her way through the curving tunnel of the catacombs: _Selene III, Selenius, Selenio, Cassia Selene, Septimus Selen, Selenia Selen_. On and on it goes down two more stories to the unfinished fifth level as the name of that early queen continues in the family.

Some have busts of what they looked like in front of their resting places. It's so strange. They look so different from Terrio, she thinks, absently tracing the rounded stone jaw line of Julio Selen.

~_paxlunae_~

The Priestesses and their priest counterparts in the western part of Elysium have long since cleared out by the time the fog bank settles down in the river and slips down stream into the heart of Elysiums's shipping docks in Riverside. It curls up out of the river and over the docks. Up by the flood gates, it spreads itself thin to catch as many of the poor neighborhood's houses as possible. From there it progresses, covering everything and everyone in it's path.

~_paxlunae_~

She cannot be down here, he thinks as he wrenches the trap door open and rushes down the manor. She will ruin everything.

~_paxlunae_~

"No one out that I can see, Mother." Farah says as she accepts a cup of water. "Then again it's very thick. I couldn't see my own feet in some places."

"Thank you very much Farah." She smiles warmly. "Take a break."

"Are you sure?" she frowns. And The Mother sighs.

"We've done all we can for now."

"When will it be gone?" one of their new guests pipes up from his cot they've set up on the main hall.

"By morning." She assures him.

"Mother!" the initiate runs up to her. "Zinea needs you in her study.

"Thank you." She leaves the guests in the capable hands of Marta and ten others and ducks out of the main hall down through the Priestesses dormitories. The second door from the end is where Zinea keeps her office.

Zinea sits with her sleeves pushed up squinting over another map scroll – this one charmed to show the advance of the fog. "Come take a look," she frowns.

The mother leans over the desk and adjusts her glasses to make sense of it's tiny lines. "What is it?"

"It's spreading up to the Palace." Zinea says, and the Mother curses. In all fifteen years, not since that first time has it ever been permitted up on Palace grounds.

"Please Ra, let her be inside." She mutters, watching the purple ink on the map completely cover the small palace icon.

~_paxlunae_~

She finds the guardians on the fifth floor. Right in the center on pedestals. Serenity Selen, and Serenity Tana – the first two Guardians from earth.

She kneels down to brush the dust off the mosaics on their pedestals and freezes.

Serenity Tana's eyes, green as lush summer forests, gaze back at her. Her black hair beautifully done in a complicated braid.

It is Serenity Selen that has the amber eyes and blond hair. In face…both of the figures behind her on the mosaic – a king and queen – were blond and amber eyed.

"Selen." She whispers. "I don't look like guardian, I look like these…kings and queens."

An image flares up brightly in her mind. It's of Julio Selen's bust, with the rounded jaw so unlike King Terrio's angular one.

He has her nose.

Just as she is standing up to investigate further, Terra screams. Someone has a hand on her shoulder. "Get off me!"

~À Suivre~


	8. The Forgetful Fog: Part Two

Disclaimer: I don't own this, clearly.

AN: This is so late, I am so sorry. I don't want you to worry. I did good things with the week I skipped. Pax Lunae is now planned out through to the end and I am now writing the next chapter. As you can see this one got much longer than I anticipated. I will endeavor not to miss anymore weekly updates. Believe me it annoys me as much as it does you. I'm incredibly committed to seeing this project though.

I digress. When we last left Terra and Helios, Terra had found the catacombs of the Selen Kings and Queens, meanwhile Metalia and Terrio's forgetful fog is sweeping through Elysium intent on wiping out any remaining memories of the Selens...

The Forgetful Fog: Part II

"It's me," Helios hisses, hand tightening on her shoulder. "What are you doing here so late, Terra?"

"Don't call me that," she snaps.

"Princess, you need to go back to your room."

"Who are they?" She yells at him, pointing to the stone tombs and mosaics behind her in the chamber.

"Great warriors of old, I should think," he snaps, then loudly says "Goddess, child. You can't be in the _armoury _this late at night.

Armoury? "What do you me-" But Helios squeezes her shoulder in glares, eyes flashing in the narrow beam of light.

"Shhh," he holds up a finger up to his lips and takes his hand from her shoulder, bringing it up to pull down the sleeve on his other arm. The light flashes on the aged bronze cuff, which entraps her mentor's arm from wrist to elbow. He turns it and in the light from her forehead she sees the warped and raised line along the side where it has been welded to his arm.

"Sound...carries here." He taps the bronze cuff with a finger. "I would hate for you to be punished just for curiosity."

Terra steps away from him, confused. "Why would would someone mind me exploring the _armoury_," she stresses. Helios puts a hand over his eyes. To think he's normally grateful she's such a terribly liar.

He then gestures towards the mosaics that have been built over the guardians' tombs. "There are weapons that could hurt you...or someone else in the hands of someone who is unfamiliar with them...and there's magic in many of them that is better left undisturbed."

She looks between him and the graves, then at the bronze cuff, studying it closely until her eyes can make out the subtle aura of magic.

"Can't you tell me any stories about the...weapons in here. Or the magics."

Helios shakes his head. "I'm sorry. I don't know anything about them," he lies. "Perhaps there are scholars or members of Ra's order who've been tasked with studying their histories. I know a lot of histories are kept in Elysium's main temple."

She frowns as she tries to sort out the riddle.

"We need to go, Terra," Helios councils, putting an arm around her shoulders and steering her towards the doorway. "I promise I shall ask the order to send their histories up to the palace. Though you might have luck with the library."

Terra sighs. "Can't we just stay a little longer...I'll be quiet. I won't touch anything...I just want to look around a while longer. It feels like." She looks back at the room with the guardians tombs, and the mosaics of the royals who look so much like herself. "It feels like there's so much here I don't know."

Her mentor is quiet, though his pace slows down as he guides her back through the tunnel. "I suppose if you've already snuck your way in...there's no harm in staying a little longer." His hand falls from her shoulder and grips his other arm, twisting the bronze band back and forth. "But Terra, you can't sneak in here again. You're lucky it was me that found you. A guard might think you an intruder and put you to the sword."

She's not looking at him, focusing instead on memorizing as many names, statues, and carvings as she can. But the grave tone of his voice is clearly meant to imply so much more than he can say. _I hate riddles_! she thinks as her fingers trace another Selen royal's name. _Who were you? _she pleads with the spirits that rest in this secret catacomb. _Why did you look like me?_

But only their footsteps answer her, walking slowly up from the fifth level. Helios stops dutifully everytime the light that shines from her crescent mark strays off the path. He taps his foot as she leans in to study an old Epitaph, or duck into a side room, but he does wait. His hand never leaves his arm.

They're on the third floor, and she's read the 17th version of _beloved father and leader_before she thinks to ask.

"How is Phaeton, Helios."

He clears his throat. "Well," he whispers. "I don't see him as much as I like. The King and Prince Ronan keep him quite busy at the Palace."

_Is Phaeton what keeps him from telling me? _she wonders. _Does that mean Father's the one keeping secrets from me._

As they continue past the many Selen graves, she has to bite her lip to keep from speaking.

_I don't even know if he's my father at all._

~_paxlunae_~

She stands on the balcony attached to their chambers leaning over the marble railing. Her eyes track the progress of the fog as it advances towards them.

The soft shuffle of footsteps across the stone floor catch her attention just before a familiar arm wraps around her waist, she leans into the warmth and smiles as her husband's chin rests atop her hair.

"You did specify that it is forbidden to enter the palace, I hope?" Terrio murmurs. overhead, the near constant heat lightning turns the grounds and the approaching fog a bright purple that they've become, she feels, uncomfortably familiar with.

"I was careful," Portia sniffs as she pulls his other arm around her to block the cool air. "I know how it can find loopholes in the sealing magic."

His hand slides up her back and into her hair, combing through her loose black locks.

"I still don't like it." Terrio murmurs. "It's past time we re-evaluate how valuable this demon is to our security."

"I know, but we have to take this chance." Portia turns her head so that she can tap the bronze earring she always wears in her right ear. "Armoury...oh that's clever." She points a finger towards the burnt and overgrown ruins that remain on the left side of the grounds. Pity magic keeps the foundation standing. "I heard him open the trap door a bit before they began talking," she whispers (excited and lively despite the late hour). "He knows too much, and she's gotten far too curious. We needed to take this chance."

"He has that blasted amulet." Terrio growls.

"He might not," Portia sighs, hand twining with his. "He ran right from the shrine. I heard him cursing...there's a good chance he didn't even think to grab it."

"And she's quite fast."

"The fog is thick and fast moving - look it's already coming up the hill." She gestures towards the tall gray smog that rolls quickly towards their curtain wall. "We'll catch at least one of them."

"And then we fill their head with whatever's convenient."

"And then save the existing agreement," Portia squeezes Terrio's hand tightly. "We'll never have to deal with the demon again."

~_paxlunae_~

"Mama?" the little girl shivers in her nightie as she pushes open the door to her mother's room. Her mother always leaves the window open.

But her mother isn't in bed, and a deep grey mist clings to everything - the walls, the bed and bureau, even climbing up the walls. It rolls in from the window and brushes against her bare feet. She whimpers. "Mama i had a bad dweam again." She steps further into the room, holding up her candle against the dark shadows. "Mama!" she shrieks.

The sobs building up in her throat cease as a sudden thump comes from the closet. She hears a whimper too. "Oh!" she steps through the mist that now fills the room up to her waist and stretches up to reach the closet door nob, frowning when she hears her mother whimper again from inside. "Found you!" she gasps as she pulls the door open, tilting her head and frowning as she sees her mother with her head down, curled up on the floor. "Mama why are we playing hide and find at bed time?"

"Go away." Her mother's hoarse voice whispers.

"Ma-"

"Stop calling me that!" Her mother cries, snarling up at her. The little girl stumbles backwards, candle falling on the floor. "I'm not your mother."

"Y-you are."

"Don't trick me!" Her mother's wild eyes glare at her as she slowly rises from the closet. "You're the demon that did this to me aren't you?"

"Nooo!" she chokes. "Didn't do anything!"

"Get away from me," Her mother launches out of the closet, making the girl scramble back towards the door. "Go away, Demon! Demonnn!"

The little girl runs, tripping on the loose floorboards as she dashes down the hall and out into the kitchen, fog on every surface.

"Demon! Demon!" Her mother's angry shouts and stomping feet follow her all the way out into the street where the fog is so high it covers her head, she runs so far into it that she cannot see her house - nor any other. And she runs until she trips over someone else in the street.

"Not a demon!" She screams, curling up on the ground.

But instead of her mother's voice greeting her it is an old mans - the old carpenter who's house is just down the street.

"Who am I," his old voice cracks as blurry eyes stare at her. "Do you know who I am?"

~_paxlunae_~

"How late is it?" Terra asks as they step out of the stairway from the catacombs. "The lights aren't on?"

Indeed, even in the guardhouses that surround the ruins there is not a single candle. Helios frowns up at the sky, flashing moment to moment with heat lightning that spreads through the clouds.

And something he hadn't noticed in his rush to get Terra. "purple," he whispers. "no, it never comes up here."

"What doesn't?" Terra asks.

"The forgetful fog."

"That's - Helios that's just a ghost story," she snickers. "Queen Portia used to tell us all the time."

"No, it's quite a bit more than a story." He closes the trap door and points to the field that leads around the hedge maze. "Just to be safe we need to get to the shrine."

"There's really a fog that steals memories?" Terra looks up at the sky. "Helios it just looks like a storm?"

"Stop looking at it and keep moving!" Helios calls as she turns to see he's jogged quite a bit forwards. "Terra hurry!"

She runs towards him, seeing his hand again twisting the bronze cuff as he glances anxiously around. "We need to be in the shrine."

"Is it to do with the lightning?" She says as he grabs her wrist to keep her moving around the maze. "Is it magic."

"I can answer that." He assures her, gasping between words. "But get inside."

They jog around the maze within fifty feet of the high curtain wall. Close enough to hear the crash and the scream within the guards cabin on top. Terra stops in her tracks, head whipping up towards the top of the wall.

"Terra, come on." Helios gasps as she wrenches her wrist from his hold.

"Someone's in trouble."

"There's a reason," he insists. "I swear, Terra if that's what I think it is - " but another scream cuts them off. Both of them stand frozen as two guards run from their hut, leaving the door ajar, and rush straight up and over the wall. The first man dives right off the high tower. The second pauses on the ledge.  
"Wait!" Terra calls, running towards the man and trying not to look as his comrade's body crunches against the ground. "Don't!"

"Go!" she hears him call. "Rassake, girl. It's coming." he glances behind him. she sees his head shaking.

"Run!" he yells down to them, before himself jumping right off the edge.

"Terra come on!" Helios grabs her wrist again, dragging her along. The second guard's scream ends in an abrupt crack against the dirt.

"But I need to help him."

"He's already gone!"

"Helios wait!"

"We have to go." He drags her, glancing over his shoulder at her. She sees his eyes widen and his face pale. "No." he says as she follows his gaze.

Peaking over the top of the wall, a dark cloud rolls up over the stone, around the guard tower, and begins cascading down towards them.

"Come on!" He yells, urging her to meet his frantic pace. Their feet slap the grass in a frantic rhythm as Helios glances back towards the wall. "Keep going." They round the side of the maze. The tiny light of the shrine gleams in the darkness, tucked away at the edge of the forest beyond all the practice yards, the vineyard, the rose garden. "Straight shot!" Helios gasps. "Fast as you can, come on."

How he keeps up with her, she can't guess. She glances frequently at her old mentor as he wheezes and gasps. Only once does she look back at the fog.

It had started out just cresting the wall as they ran away.

It's now only ten feet off, the cloud rolling towards them is taller than her head.

She screams as the continue to run. Past the vineyard, past the jousting yard, the archery range, and the stables. Their feet crash through the beds of roses. Only a hundred feet off.

Close enough to see the dark fog roll out from between the trees, seeping out of the forest to cover the shrine. Helios pulls up short.

"At least get to the -" his voice trails off as they take in the grouds.

The fog has surrounded them. The white marble palace has dissappeard in its depths.

"Oh Ra," Helios murmers. "If you even get one breath." He closes his eyes. "Terra, you need to run to them temple."

"But the shrine -"

"Is only as strong as the faithful within it." He swallows. "And I won't be faithful much longer."

"Don't talk let that." She puts a hand over her mouth as the fog creeps up around her ankles. "I'll forget…"

"You won't." Helios steps away from her, eyes still closed as though he's praying. He hands reach behind him to undo the chain around his neck. He pulls it up out of his tunic.

The green amulet glows on the end of the chain.

"Hold still." He says, immediately closing his mouth, trying to hold his breath. His hands slip the chain around her neck and fasten the clasp. "That wards off the fog. You're going to be fine. Just get to the temple."

"But you,"

"My son…" He grits his teeth as the fog closes in around their faces. "Tell Phaeton I'm sorry."

"No...no Helios, I can't."

"Keep running." He coughs, a full breath of fog rushing into his lungs. "Oh, Ra. Terra run, I don't know what's...what's going on?"

"Helios." She clutches the amulet close, watching the fog rush in around her mentor, covering him completely in the gray mist.

"I - I - who is Helios?" she hears him whisper from within it.

_Run. _she orders her feet as the shakely step back, _run, run, run._ She still backs up, slowly, until she hits the unseen wall of the castle, banging her head on the stone.

A muffled scream filters through the fog.

The sound breaks through her terror, her feet at last listening to her brain.

_runrunrunrunrun._ She rushest around the castle, stumbling into the walls and the gardens, her shoulder clips the open gate.

_runrunrunrunrun_…

~_paxlunae_~

Just past 03:00, the Priestesses have finally gotten all of their guests settled for the night, and pulled the first of the forgetful from the fog when they wandered to the temple doors. Many of the daughters have retired at last to bed. Still more have opted to stay up until the dawn chores. They mill about the main hall checking cots, or cat napping on the mess hall's tables.

The Mother tip toes through the main hall with two steaming clay mugs, out into the silent atrium. They have left the doors open. The thick fog slides up against the doorway unable to pass. She looks out into it, seeing the shadows of stumbling figures out beyond the yard, and tries to block out the moans and cries of the lost.

"You could go out and get them," Zinea says from where she's seated on the floor. "Farah did give you the amulet back?"

"Hours ago." The Mother sighs. "But I'm just as liable to get injured in this thick mess as they are, or be injured by them."

"And we just got that toddler to sleep as well." Zinea reaches up for her mug as The Mother slides down the wall beside her. "I could get you a cushion."

"I am not _old_," she mutters, sipping the calming herbal brew. "I'm younger than you."

"Yes, yes. Youngest Mother in nearly 500 years actually. You're beat by one Martian Mother and a Neptunese Father." Zinea sips her tea. "But as age and wisdom go together, we have all just assumed you're older than you look."

"I feel old," she confesses to her oldest friend. "I still don't know why she picked me."

"Hmmm… the Late Mother always did have a peculiar sort of sense about these things."

"Why not pick you?" The Mother asks. "Goodness, you're the smartest here. You were her favored counselor even when we were young."

"And I prefer my scrolls to people. You...you handle them well. You know when to be sympathetic and when to be commanding. You even know their favorite kind of tea." Zinea raises her mug. "Now I, I would have half the initiates quitting before their first year and a day. I would talk to them in words with more syllables than a noble's titles and they'd gossip that I was erudite snob with bad hair."

"You are a Erudite with fine hair," the Mother chuckles. "But I see your point."

A scream pierces the fog far in the distance and both women lean forward to look out the doors. But there are no shadows running to their yard that they could pull to safety.

"You led them well today," Zinea confides. "Perhaps it is youth, but even in her prime the late Mother was not able to be everywhere she was needed on these nights exactly when she was needed...you seemed to dance through all of it."

"I was terrified through the entire thing," the Mother scoffs.

"That's why I think she picked you." Zinea says as she sips her tea. "You can be terrified and still know what you're doing."

"Let's hope." The mother pulls the amulet out of her robe and stares at the green wood, wire, and string. "I haven't heard from him."

"Helios?"

"He would have checked in hours ago. But the fire has been blank and no doves have come with messages."

"I'm sure he - " Zinea is cut off by the frantic slap of feet running down the stone streets. Both women turn towards the sound. The forgetful do not run. At least, not so fast and not without running into something. These feet flee down from the direction of Palace way with sureness. Shouts and thuds echo in their wake as they push past wandering bodies. The Mother sets her tea down and stands in the doorway, clutching the amulet as she leans out of it. "Over here!" She yells out as the racing feet approach. "Here!"

"They could be dangerous." Zinea worries, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Some of the forgetful are incredibly violent."

"It could be Helios," she counters and shrugs off Zinea's hand as she steps out into the gloom. "Here!"

The feet stop beyond the yard. She sees a long haired figure glancing all around, and waves from the steps. "Inside!"

"Asha!" Zinea calls. "You said yourself it isn't safe."

But she only steps further into the fog, calling for the runner, heart in her throat. Who has run down from the top of Palace Way in the middle of this? "Come on! It's safe."

The runner makes their way towards her, through the blurred grey shadows of the gates. She sees a limp in their gait. "Helios?" She calls.

"No," a girl's voice gasps as the figure comes closer. The Mother slips an arm under her shoulders and helps her through the yard. "He - h-h-he."

"It's okay," she assures the girl. "Let's get you inside." She drags the girl up the steps and through the doors, feeling Zinea rush to shut them lest Mother want to chase any more panicked wanderers.

She eases the girl down against the wall. "Let's get you some water."

"Is this the temple?" the girl asks. "Helios, said-said to run here."

"He did?" Zinea kneels beside them. "What happened."

But it's mother who answers. "He saved her," she says pointing to the bronze chain around the girl's neck. Zinea gasps.

The girl pulls the protective amulet out of her tunic and stares down at the familiar green necklace. "He said to run here...that you could explain."

"Look at me." The Mother commands quietly, knowing what she'll see. 15 years ago she'd looked into these same amber eyes, and watched another pair close for good.

The Guardian stares at her sharply, defensive. The softly glowing crescent on her forhead casts a harsh light on her features.

"Serenity," The Mother whispers, as Zinea accepts a cup of water from a daughter who's rushed in to help.

The girl's face softens. "That's my real name isn't it?"

"It has always been," Zinea assures her. "You look just like your mother."

"Who was she?" Serenity gasps before tilting back the small cup of water.

"Let's get you out of the Atrium." The Mother says, dark eyes flitting over the stirring guests on their cots in the next room. "I have a lounge in my study you can rest that leg on."

Between she and Zinea, they lift Serenity up and walk her around the main hall and into the Priestesses dormitories, settling her in the Mother's study a few paces down the hall.

"What happened to Helios?"

_À __suivre_


	9. The Lost, The Left, & The Liars

Disclaimer: nopenopenopenope

AN: Due to the chapters getting longer, we'll be transitioning to biweekly updates. Which is a reality I've been avoiding for a while but you'll probably thank me for devoting extra time to some upcoming battles. In any case this is the last real chapter of set up. Chapter 10 (which I am writing now and might post early depending on how the work week goes) sees the first appearance of Serenity with her powers. From that point we're doing something fighting-in-the-name-of-love-and-justice related nearly every chapter.

And if you're curious. I did take the time to iron out how long this will be. And as of Chapter 10 we are 1/3 of the way through.

Yes that's right this will be 30 chapters or so long.

Excited? I am ;)

The Lost, The Left, &amp; The Liars

She walks through the cacophony of voices in a daze, ears ringing with the echoes of their questions off the stone walls.

"Has it gone now? Can I go home?"

"I can't leave my cat alone out there…"

"Has this happened before?"

And then the panicked questions whispered, muttered, shouted from the many lost now clustered throughout the hall.

"Do you know my name?"

"My mother?"

"Is he...my husband?"

"Where is my family?"

"Do I have a family?"

"Why am I here?"

"Let me go!"

"Where is my Mommy?"

"Princess?"

"I want Mommy!"

"Princess Serenity."

"She isn't here, Sweetie."

"Mommy said-"

"Terra!"

"Huh!" She jumps when a hand brushes her shoulder. It's just Zinea. She shakes her head. "Sorry...I'm just."

"I know," Zinea sighs and her dark eyes sweep over the crowded temple, and the crowd of hundreds of people crammed together on cots and blankets all the way from the atrium archway to the heavy oak doors that open onto the central courtyard. Families have clustered together near the walls and those unaffected by the fog are now itching to leave.

Those found wandering as the grey mist retreated - unaffected children and lost adults alike, stand out from the others. They curl in on themselves, avert their eyes towards the floor or stare unblinking at everything from the carvings on the ceiling, to the crowds, to their own hands.

"I want mommy back." She turns her eyes once again to the little girl - just six it looks like - found by one of the priestesses when they'd gone to search the streets the hour after dawn.

"I know little one." The Mother priestess is kneeling in front of the girl, offering her a piece of bread. "We'll find her. But you need to eat first it's nearly breakfast time. And you need to tell me your name."

"Malia," she says.

_Your name is Serenity Selen_. The Mother had told her. _Normally Serenity was a title given to Earth's Guardians, but your mother made it your first name. A way to say, I believe, that you were meant to lead this world. It is a powerful name._

"And what is your mother's name, Malia?"

"Ailani"

_Your mother was Selena...I didn't know her._ The Mother had looked away pointedly until Zinea had reached out for her arm. _until after she was gone… you look very much like her._

"And your father's name."

"I don't 'member," Malia sniffs. "He's gone with Gran and Teo. When I was a baby they got confum...consum...I mean" She mimes coughing into her hand.

"Consumption." Zinea says softly.

"Yeah"

_They didn't know your father_, Zinea had said when she'd asked. _The rumor was he was a Guardsman. I heard Selena met him when she chased the hunting dogs away from an animal's den and he helped her nurse the creatures back to health… she tried to keep it very hush-hush._

_Why?_

_Princesses weren't supposed to have affairs. We think he died in the fire helping Selena escape._

Malia looks between the three of them "Is mommy going to leave too?"

"No," the Mother promises. "But, she's going to be a little lost right now."

"She called me a demon."

"Malia," The Mother bends down so that the little girl will look at her. "She didn't know you - that's the fog's fault - we're going to help you and her through this."

"Is she going to 'member."

_What about Helios… will he ever recover?_

_It's impossible to know._

"She could. But you have to be brave, Malia. You'll need to help her."

_Poor Phaeton_.

The Mother appears to have gotten through to Malia, who wipes her eyes on the back of her hand and sniffs. "I can help her 'member?"

"You're the best person for the job."

_He told me he never wanted to keep you in the dark, _the Mother had said just as the candlelight in the study began to fade against the pink light in the window. _But because Phaeton is in the palace._

_Would Father…Terrio. _She had put her head in her hands then. Not the bastard daughter, but the stolen one. _Would Terrio hurt him_?

The Mother and Zinea had not had to answer her.

"Come on," Zinea says as The Mother guides young Malia towards the temple sisters who will take her to find her mother. "We need to get you home as well…"

_And what about the fog,_ she had asked. _Where does it come from_?

~_paxlunae_~

A heavy dew coats the palace ground as he emerges from the royal residence hours after patrols have swept the grounds for the affected. He stalks towards the rose gardens ahead of the two guards who summoned him from breakfast. Is it true? They have really succeeded. He stops before the body slouched over on the grass, blue robes damp and white hair spilling over his eyes, and looks at the Captain of the guard who stands just behind him. "Has he said anything?"

"Only talks about the screaming your Majesty."

"Screaming." The royal priest jerks his head up to look at Terrio, his eyes are red and wide as child's. "The girl was screaming."

"Was Terra found with him?" Terrio asks, letting concern fill his tone. The Captain and the other four guards around them all give him sympathetic eyes.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, they're still looking for your daughter."

Terrio gnaws at his lip. The girl is still lost, the amulet was clearly not found with Helios. Have they gotten lucky? "Excuse me a moment." His boots step through the rows and rows of blooming roses, bypassing the paths, as he jogs the distance to the priest's shrine. He flings the door open, eyes traveling over the small room. Where would he keep it?

There, by the bed, hanging on a hook with Helios outer white cloak, the green circle of wire and wood spins slowly on its leather chain. He plucks it off the hook. The poor fool did leave it behind in his rush to get Terra. Terrio grins, and holds the necklace up to the light. "Oh Helios, you'd think this was funny if you still understood." He wraps the leather string around his hand and, holding the amulet out away from him, jogs from the shrine.

The Captain and his guards stand at attention as he returns at a hurried pace across the garden. Two of them have pulled Helios to his feet. He sags between the two guards shaking his head.

Terrio clenches his teeth as he approaches them, pulling his face into a mask of seething rage. One more move.

"Lock him in the prisoners' cellar," he informs the five men.

"My King, he is no danger to anyone." The Captain frowns.

Terrio holds up the amulet. "Unfortunately not so. This was in his shrine. I can feel the magic of the fog within it." He grabs the front of Helios robes and drags the man up until he can look in his eyes. "Terra must have tried to thwart him and trapped him in his own spell."

"Terra?" Helios mutters. "Terra, the screaming girl."

"What did you do with her?" He says shaking the man. He sees the two guards tighten their hold on Helios arms. Their faces angry shadows beneath their bronze helmets.

"I don't know." His priest's voice cracks. "I don't know who _I _am…tell me…please tell me." He begins to sob.

Terrio stomps down on the rush of glee threatening to give way his mood and keeps his voice as neutral as he can. "Your name is Helios. You commune with demons, you set the fog that stole your memories lose on an entire city…a fog that has killed many…perhaps even a princess." He could only hope. It would solve so many problems. "You are a murderer, Helios."

He drops the now sobbing man back into the arms of the two guards, who pull his arms behind him and look to their Captain. "We'll secure him in the cells for magic users," the older of the two says.

"Your Magesty," his captain and the remaining two guards salute him. "Be assured there will be a thorough investigation into how that man has gone undetected…" Terrio waves his hand.

"Let's focus on finding the victims…particularly Terra. He is found now, and he shall face the crown's justice. And that's quite a mercy compared to his fate now." As his Captain's face relaxes and the possibility of an undesirable investigation falls by the wayside, Terrio directs his attention towards the forest, lit brightly by the morning sun, and then down towards the wall and the gates, beyond which Terra might be wandering. Whatever has happened to her, she shall not disappear into the streets like that irritating Princess Selena.

"Gather your best patrol and the best dogs. I need you to do a service to the crown now." He waves his hand out towards the city. "Find Terra – find my daughter."

~_paxlunae_~

Within the shrine on the palace grounds, the blanket that drapes over the bed and brushes the floor rustles. The corner pulls back so that one wide, black eye can peek out. The girl beneath that bed closes her eyes, breath in, breath out. She wills her heart to slow, waiting patiently until the fast thrum fades from her ears, until she can hear the footsteps and voices of the guards leaving the grounds.

Slowly, she rolls out from beneath the bed and stares at the wood ceiling of the hut. _Calm down_, she commands her body. _You're not caught, calm down._

She glances over towards the hooks along the wall that hold the Royal Priest's outer robe. The false amulet she'd placed there is gone.

"It's done," she whispers as she catches her breath. "Get off the floor, Farah." She tells herself. "You did it."

Even with her voice as a coach, it's a while before she's works up the nerve to get off the floor. Her hands shake, her knees threaten to as well.

She goes to the front door of the shrine, peeking out the window on her tip toes to check for any other ground patrols…but there are none. Farah carefully turns the knob, slips out of the shrine, and bolts. Her feet carry her into the fringes of the forest and around the the servants gate. From there, she slips out of the palace on the back of a grain wagon and disappears into the crowds on Palace Way.

Rather than go right back to the temple though, she dives into an alley and winds her way through the side streets the the merchants quarter, on the other side of the curtain wall.

Her blond hair is easy to spot, swaying to and fro in the mid-morning sun as she meanders in a rumpled tunic and barefeet along the well-kept cobble stones. Farah checks that her Alley is well within the shadows while she watches the Guardian.

She doesn't have to wait long. A large group of Palominos is cantering up the city street, a dark haired man in a purple silk tunic and a crown leading the way.

~_paxlunae_~

_Keep the amulet under your clothes. They shouldn't look for it, we've taken care of it, _The Mother had assured her as she'd been ushered out of the temple under a cloack on a cart bound for the market. _We'll have our people nearby._

As the Palominos with their freshly polished tack encircle her she glimpses the white robe in the shadow of two shops, still closed despite the sun high up in the sky. She lets her feet stumble over each other and widens her eyes to stare at the riders. She doesn't have to lie. It's not lying. All she has to do is stand here.

The most familiar of the riders jumps down from his saddle before his horse has stopped. He crushes her close, nails digging into her back, and she jumps away, glad she doesn't have to pretend to enjoy the embrace.

She just has to pretend she doesn't know him at all.

She meets his dark blue eyes with her amber ones. Then averts them.

_Don't challenge him…a direct gaze implies defiance. Look at the ground, or his shoulder, or the horse. But don't let him read your eyes._

"Terra," he prompts her. "Thank the goddess."

_You don't have to say much…just enough._

"Is that my name?" She whispers.

_Whatever he tells you, play along._

She sees the corner of his mouth twitch as he kneels in front of her.

"Yes. Terra. You're my daughter, illegitimate, but I hardly care. Do you know who I am?"

She lets her eyes fall on the majestic horses and the guards before the settle on the circulet. "Are you the King?"

"I am…and you are the Guardian of this world."

_You will remember somethings. Do not be a completely blank slate._

"I am the Guardian, really…but they're so powerful." She can't make her voice wobble in disbelief. It isn't possible. But she can whisper it softly and hope he takes that as doubt.

_I can't lie_.

_Then don't – repeat what he says if it comes to it. Resort to questions. He'll try to make up his own answers._

He does. "Come up onto the horse with me. We'll go back to the palace. We'll help you remember."

_Do not react, no matter what he tells you_.

"You were caught in a magical storm, summoned by an traitor." Terrio says as he helps her up onto the horse and swings up into the saddle behind her. "We have him jailed."

_You cannot ask about Helios_.

"Will I get my memories back?"

"It is doubtful." Terrio's voice rumbles behind her and she suppresses a shiver. The fifteen horses and riders in their company turn and begin their trot back towards the Palace on the hill. "But I'm sure they won't be anything that cannot be rebuilt."

_You must act as if what he says is truth._ _The newly forgetful believe everything they hear_.

"You're well loved as Earth's guardian. You're job is to protect it. But I don't want you to worry for your life, Terra. It is peacetime. You have not ever had to pick up a sword or cast a spell. In fact to my knowledge you've never had an interest in fighting at all."

She swallows hard. She shall have to practice her sword in secret it seems. "Do you know what I like to do."

"Oh tending the Garden is favored pass time of yours. You're not the social type generally. I often find you in your chambers: reading scrolls, practicing needlework.

_I hate needles! _She clenches her fists around the reins.

_Do not challenge him_.

"Majesty…I mean, Father…should I not learn to fight. To be ready to be Earth's protector?"

"I should think not" He says over her shoulder. "It's peacetime my child." Their horse and the guards turn off down the connecting street towards Palace Way. "It shall be peacetime on Earth for a while.

_Say yes to everything he tells you. Let him play his game and think he's gained an upper hand. _

"Will you tell me more about my life, Father?" she hedges.

_In the end you'll slip right through his fingers._

~_paxlunae_~

Thankfully Terrio does not follow her all the way to her chambers. He leaves that to Cornelia.

_And princess this is very important._

Her tall, gangly maid has barely ushered her through her door before she starts talking.

"You're to rest to day, Milady. Perhaps sleep shall be good for remembering."

"Thank you."

"But before you do I'm having the kitchen bring up a Plate of cheese." Her stomach growls. Cornelia strides over to the window and opens it to the sunlight. "That's your favorite food you know Milady. Cheese on everything. It is quite fun to watch."

_To Terrio the fog is an opportunity. He will be watching everywhere to see if you stick to the story._

She lets Cornelia guide her over to her bed and sit her down on the coverlet. She tuts. "Look at you all covered in dirt. You'll feel much better after a bath."

"Maybe in a little while." She sighs, hands coming up to rub her eyes.

"Alright…just as well there's things I need to say." She regards Cornelia curiosly as the woman directs a determined brown stare at her. "Now, I don't know what the King was on about Milady…and I mean no disrespect…but I heard him say you don't even like the sword." She points out the chest on the edge of the bed. "But you're an amazing fighter you see. You keep your sword there. It's with your armour. You can best even seasoned guards and you hold your own with masters. She watches as Cornelia's eyebrows curl into a frown. "I just don't understand why he would lie about it milady. And on top of it all he claims you like –"

"Needlework, I know." She takes a deep breath. "I hate needles."

_Do not trust anyone. _

"Milady…you remembered that?

_Do not trust anyone_.

"Cornelia." She swallows, pushing back The Mother's warnings. "I haven't been entirely truthful today."

Her maid kneels down in front of her, clasping both her hands. "Mi-Terra…what is going on?"

_Cornelia is not just anyone_.

"My name…isn't Terra." She tells her maid. "My name is Serenity_. _And I need your help."

She feels Cornelia's hands squeeze her sweaty palm and watches her head tilt to the side in concern. "Whatever you need."

"I need you to believe a story."

_~à suivre~_


	10. By Moonlight

Disclaimer: If I owned this I'd have interns to look up all the latin. But I don't. so clearly it's just a hobby.

AN: Internet was out at my house so this is a few days late. But here is your first biweekly update – longer than usual as I promised. And we're a full 1/3 through! Yay!

By Moonlight

_Nova Luna_

"Terra – oh, wait! Pardon my mistake, Milady," Cornelia chuckles as she bustles into the room with freshly dried clothes to store away. "Serenity…goodness that'll be an adjustment."

Serenity makes a face as she finishes her morning press-ups and accepts a fresh tunic from Cornelia. "Maybe I should just use Terra. It won't be confusing. What's a name in the grand scheme of the universe anyway?"

"Everything, I should think," Cornelia lifts the basket from her hip and plops it down on the unmade bed to fold the laundry. "You call yourself by Serenity if you want – it's who you were always meant to be."

"Thank you." Serenity smiles, pulling her hair from its horsetail to begin a more class-appropriate braid. "I guess I'm just not used to it."

"Well I'll call you by it until you are," Cornelia grins. "And, Milady, the _Novilunium _ends tonight. Happens that I know the guard who'll be on duty."

"Really!" Serenity's eyes widen and her teeth flash a small grin. Since she'd returned to the Palace after the Forgetful Fog pretending to have lost her memories, she had been forced to pretend, per King Terrio's lies about her abilities, that she was little more than a beginner with the sword. She had not had a decent exercise with her favourite weapon in a week.

"Yes, I know the guard on duty tonight. So I will find you after lights out and you'll introduce me to those new friends of yours."

~_paxlunae_~

Barely a sliver of moonlight peeks out of the black sky as Cornelia and her cloaked companion leave the Palace via the kitchens and make their way around to the servants' gate.

The cloaked figure hangs back, arms clutching a sword beneath the heavy cloak, as Cornelia sidles up to the guard on duty, leaning in to whisper to him. The cloaked figure shifts from foot to foot and glances all around them when Cornelia's lips ghost against the man's ear and her fingers play with the collar of his uniform.

It's only moments before she hears the gates heave open, and Cornelia ushers her through them, blowing a kiss back to the guard as they pull to the side of Palace Way and duck into an alley, the first of many side streets that will serve as a round-about route to the temple.

"He'll let us back in in two and a half hours and not another soul will be the wiser."

"What did you say to him?" Serenity asks as she follows Cornelia down a left turn.

"Nothing you need to hear, Milady." Cornelia stifles a laugh. "He's just one of a few men I like to keep on hand."

"What…but,but, how long?"

"Oh, with him? a year at least." Cornelia glances back at her, eyes gleaming playfully in the near by light of a doorway lamp. "I maybe a Lady's maid, but I'm hardly a Lady myself." Cornelia winks at her. "And all the better for me. You'll understand when you meet that Charioteer of yours."

Serenity blushed, she'd hoped when that particular vision became a recurring dream, no one would have to find out. "Have I been talking in my sleep?"

"You always have, not that I'm there to hear it much, but lately whenever I'm staying late and drop in to douse a candle or pick up the washing you're mumbling about their shining armour and their pretty eyes."

"It was a vision," Serenity sputters as Cornelia takes her arm to guide her around a rubbish heap she'd been about to stumble into.

"One you keep having, he must be cute," Cornelia retorts.

She's about to correct Cornelia, that the Charioteer is always woman, when a loud clang disrupts the peace of the alley. She and Cornelia stop short and press themselves up against a brick wall, holding their breath. Cornelia's grip on her arm tightens.

A small, lithe, shape darts across the mouth of the alleyway, the silhouette of its tail whipping back and forth as it disappears down the street.

"Just a cat," Cornelia gasps as they both find they have to catch their breath. "Of course it is, don't know why I'm so edgy. _I'm _allowed to be out, and it's far from the next _Novilunium_."

"What happens on _Novilunium_?" Serenity whispers as the two girls creep out of that alleyway and turn left down a small side street.

But the scare with the cat has set their hearts racing. Cornelia shakes her head and puts a finger to her lips. Serenity grips Moonlight's leather sheath tighter under the cloak.

Neither speaks again until they are safely behind the temple doors.

~_paxlunae_~

Parry. Thrust. Block. Twist. Serenity whips Moonlight around to counter her opponent's quick blade work. Metal glances off of metal and the resulting sparks light up the Cloister of the Guardian.

Serenity flies for the first opening in her opponent's guard and pushes forwards, trying to break her grip.

But The Mother Priestess holds her ground, dark eyes flashing as she throws all of her weight and her surprisingly strong arms into pushing Serenity back. After a few breaths of locking swords the two opponents step away.

"Draw," The mother says, handing her heavy, older broadsword off to a younger priestess to store away. Serenity sheaths Moonlight with a mournful frown. She's had so little time recently with her favoured weapon. "A little rusty," The Mother comments.

"I'll work on it as much as I can," Serenity promises, clipping the sword to her belt. "It's just hard to have to do my real work in secret now."

"Well we'll all find a way." The Mother says, beckoning Serenity inside and into an office, where Zinea sits going over a scroll with Cornelia. "In the meantime, I'd like to start training you in magic."

"Helios taught me some."

"Oh, but not the Guardian specific spells. And there's a very good reason." She directs Serenity's attention to the scroll, on which the drawing of a familiar golden gem is fading into the parchment.

"I need the Golden Crystal," Serenity concludes.

"You shall be able to take on the true powers of the Guardian as soon as it is within your possession." The Mother taps the scroll. "There is, in fact, quite an interesting story as to its origins."

"It's a part of The Guardian," Zinea says without need to glance at the ancient writing though Cornelia leans over it eagerly. "Very much like a heart. It is…the seed, if you will, of the planet Earth, and part of the soul of Earth's guardian."

Serenity shivers. "And Terrio's been trying to harness my _soul_'s magic." She did not like that idea at all.

"He won't succeed," Zinea assures her. "Though it was originally intended for a Monarch's use. Serenity Tana, in fact, was the guardian who separated the golden crystal from her body. She wanted to ensure that even when her time as the guardian was past, Earth would still have a bit of her protection. To date, though every planet and guardian has this kind of crystal, no other guardian has given theirs permanent physical form. The intent was that when the next Guardian was born to Earth, they would take up the crystal for their own use – but every Monarch of Earth has to some degree been able to wield it." Then Zinea grins, "You've no idea how delighted we were when we discovered Terrio could not. He only makes a show of being able to use it."

"And that will aid you," The Mother continues. "He won't be able to tell a fake from the original."

"We'll have a replica ready for you both to make the swap by the time the Moon is nearly full." Zinea assures them both. "Until then, ladies, I suggest you return to the Palace, you're two and a half hours are nearly up."

_Luna Dividua_

It is one of the rare afternoons recently that Serenity has been required to attend a swords practice and only because Augusto insisted. Terrio would be perfectly happy to provide her with beginners instruction one on one with the tutor. No need for real practice.

She makes a show of wobbling the sword as she lifts it into the guard position, eyes on Augusto. How much can she thrash him and make it look like beginners luck?

Not as much as she'd prefer. Her instincts scream at her as their rematch commences, the headstrong prince nearly skewering her on his sword as she forces herself to dodge awkwardly to the side. She blocks his swings a second too late, lands her blows just off their mark, and walks backwards when she can, whenever she can.

But she doesn't ever let her sword lock with his. She's known for a long time she's too small to lock swords with an opponent - The Mother reinforced that just last week. And Augusto is younger and fitter by far. It is the one rookie move she refuses to make.

Suddenly her ankle catches on something, a stick rolled into the dueling yard as she's busy watching whether her arm is moving slow enough to seem like a beginner. She yells as she falls back, both feet coming up to clip Augusto's chin.

Suddenly the tip of his very real, very steel, sword is pressed to her throat. His blue eyes gleam as he assesses her.

"I yield," she tries to say, though the tip of the sword presses far too heavily on her throat. "I yield, Augusto. I yield."

"Just thought, I'd savor the moment." He says, sheathing his blade and crossing his arms, a smirk forming on his face. "It isn't everyday someone best's the Guardian. And," he leans over so his face blocks her view of the sky. " You're to call me 'Prince,' bastard," he whispers low enough that the onlookers cannot hear. "Or had you forgotten?"

She waits until his back is turned to get up off the ground, and is quickly ushered away by Cornelia, who holds a handkerchief out for her.

"You're bleeding." Is all she says, lifting the cloth to Serenity's throat.

She takes the handkerchief from Cornelia and glances briefly at the thin red line already forming on the fabric.

Augusto, it seems, is done playing siblings with her.

"I think I'd like to retire for the day, read a bit."

"Of course Milady," Cornelia says, opening up a door to a servants' stairway rather than take the grand steps in the entry hall. "And perhaps another trip out of your room tonight as well."

~_paxlunae_~

"This way, my Prince." The guardswoman says as she directs the tall youth and his young friend towards the lowest level of the dungeons. "Though I do warn you this one doesn't say much."

"Not that concerned," Prince Ronan bows slightly at her in gratitude. "Just would like to speak with one of the forgetful, to learn more about them. It's something not many books describe."

"Of course My Lord." She smiles at her favourite of the royal children.

"And, could you not tell my father we're here." Ronan makes a face. "You know…I'm already the prince who believes in 'faeries' still. I don't want them to think I am more strange. Father might take my books."

"I swear your secret is safe with me," the woman says. "I'll come back to collect you in a half hour."

The two boys wait until she has turned around and until her footsteps are dim echoes in the winding dungeon hallways. Then Ronan looks at his silent companion, who's kept his startling silver hair ducked over his face until now. "Come on, you can see him now." Ronan says, pulling his friend up toward the bars of a cell.

The silver haired boy looks up, eyes clouded by tears. "Papa," he says.

But no answer comes from the hunched prisoner in the back of the small cell, and he makes no move to look up towards the boys, or brush his matted white hair out of his eyes.

"Just tell him about how you are," Ronan prompts. "Like we practiced."

The silver haired boy looks at him as he wipes the tears from his eyes and nods. "I know, just…it's harder than I thought."

Then he turns back to the cage and begins again.

"Hi, you don't remember, but… my name's Phaeton."

_Luna Gibba_:

Serenity is anxious all week to have the task done already. Her mind goes over and over every conceivable way they can get caught, and every conceivable way they could be punished for this. She favoured the hanging option over others.

But when the actual night is upon them, and she and Cornelia once again take the servants' stairs well after moonrise, her anxiety gives way to overwhelming excitement.

The crystal that is hers by all rights – the one she now knows gives her the whole power of the planet – is just beyond the door of the antechamber one hallway from the throne room.

"Oh…he's cute." Cornelia whispers looking at the burly man in night-camouflaged armor standing by the door. "Let me deal with him."

"As long as you can get me two minutes," Serenity assures her. "That's all I need."

"Two minutes," Cornelia scoffs as they look around the corner again. "You underestimate me severely." Then she's moved around the corner and Serenity watches her approach the guard, stumbling over her feet and swaying her hips dramatically as though to correct her balance. She ducks behind the wall again as the guardsman turns his head.

"Woah," she hears Cornelia gasp and the click-clack of her shoes tripping on the tiles. "So sorry, sir. I just returned from Milady's…oh such a fun night. She let me taste the finest wine." Her maid hiccups. "Just seem to be having some trouble finding…where I'm being going." She giggles.

"Miss,"

"Oh, no. Don't 'miss' me. That's no fun…Say, could I just…stay with you, that would be soooo fun." She's never heard Cornelia giggle like this. Serenity feels a furious blush burning on her face.

"I can't very well walk you home ma'am. I am on duty for another few hours yet."

"Over some boring door…noooo…can't you at least help me find the nearest storage room. I'll kip there for nighttime…you can get back to guarding this, this, thingggg."

"Um…"

"Sooo handsome. Sorry. sorry. very forward, but it's just…we maids don't usually get so close to someone as…fine as you."

"Well," she hears the guard stuttering and doesn't want to think about why. "you know I suppose with the state of you, I can't very well have you wandering round the castle alone. Let's, let's find you that storage room."

Cornelia gasps, "fine, and a gentleman. Oooh! I could just kiss you."

"C-could you now, I'd be quite flattered, such a fine lady as yourself."

Serenity doesn't risk a glance around the corner until their footsteps and voices have faded. Under the lamp light further down the hall, Cornelia is leaning heavily on the guardsman, who doesn't seem at all bothered by her closeness.

_Two minutes_. She reminds herself. Serenity walks as quickly and quietly as she can across the tiles, stocking-clad feet barely making a sound.

The door is locked when she pulls the handle. Serenity reaches up to take two pins out of her long gold hair. She wills a bit of magic into each. A few tense seconds of rattling the pins in the keyhole are all it takes to get the tumblers into place. She pulls the door open just enough to slip in.

"Sailor Earth Power," she mutters, and her crescent mark lights up the pitch-black room. It immediately catches on the reflective surface of the Golden Crystal – housed on a pedestal in the center of the antechamber.

Serenity approaches it quickly, not seeing any spells around it, and plucks the crystal out of its holder, she tries to ignore the rush of power that pours into her hand from it, and plops the fake crystal into place.

The Golden Crystal's light illuminates the entire room, some, she fears, glowing beneath the doorway. "Come on, go out. Go out." She pleads without any results. Frustrated, she quickly stuffs the crystal into her shirt, beneath her corset, and wraps her arms around her chest to mask the light that _still_ manages to shine through.

_Two minutes_. It's been nearly three. She ducks back out of the chamber and fiddles with the lock until at least one of the tumblers is back in place. Then she all but runs for the servants stairs, skidding through the open doorway and tripping up the three flights to her chambers, anxious to get the crystal out of the open.

She doesn't breathe once until she's safely back in her room, and collapsing onto her bed. Finally, she can properly look at it.

It's light fills the room as soon as she lifts it free of her shirt. The golden light pulses to the beat of her heart. She stares hungrily into it, feeling the warmth of its glow consume her.

And from within the blinding gold, a vision emerges.

_The golden armor lights up bright pink as a flash of lightning strikes nearby, sending a resounding crack through the heavy rain. The woman in the armor roars and order and pulls the reigns in her hand, settling the two frightened, broad-shouldered creatures prancing at the other end. her green eyes, shadowed by her golden helmet, strain to see the target of the lightning. "Couldn't have hit those things could it? That would be called luck." She pulls her horses around and yells out into the down-pouring rain. "Two of you on horses make your way round to their back side. Watch the river bank. Those on foot - shoot your arrows from the bushes, no climbing those lightning rods. The rest of you, She waves her free hand into the gloom where a mass of shadows is looming. "Unless you want 200 of them to sack your homes by daybreak stick to the point maneuver. If you can't get their heads off aim for their legs. They can't sack if they can't walk."_

"_Are you sure point is - "_

"_We've got the rain on our side man, and there's too many to spread out and surround. It's a game of divide and slaughter."_

"_But they'll kill more of -"_

"_Light Children the lot of you," she curses. "Would you prefer they do worse? Be my guest, don't follow. Otherwise," She whips her horses into a charge. "Forward!"_

"You know that guard was quite entertaining - I think I'll keep him."

_The golden charioteer clenches the reigns between her teeth as she charges into the lightning-lit gloom. One hand pulls the axe from her belt while another takes up a whip with spikes across the end._

"Milady,"

_The muddy armor of over fifty others on horseback and on foot stampede through the rain behind her._

"Milady - oh fine we'll do it this way."

Serenity shoots up as the golden light is wrenched away from her, dragging the vision with it. "Don't _do_ that."

"Well I'd been calling you for _ages_." Cornelia crosses her arms, one fist clutching the crystal. "And I was worried they could see this light from your window."

Serenity blinks and glances around. The candle they'd lit before leaving had melted past the 2nd hour notch already. "Oh."

"You get lost in this don't you?" Cornelia worries, turning it over in her hands. "I can't even understand, it only feels warm to me."

"It's...it's like getting filled up with Sol's light, it just reacts to something within me and I get wrapped up in so much power - imagine what I could _do_ with this," Serenity marvels.

"The Mother and Sister Zinea say you could save lives, Milady." Cornelia says frowning.

"So what's wrong?"

"Nothing , just," Cornelia turns the crystal over in her hands. "How could the King pretend to this crystal had little power at all, despite seeing just months ago that you could use it, but he still lets bad things happen, with the fog and on each _Novilunium_ and…"

"Wait, Cornelia, what about _Novilunium_. This is the third time in two weeks you've mentioned it to me."

"It...oh, it's just awful. It's why all of us who work here hole up in the storage rooms with our families once a month."

"You do?"

"Aye, I always bring Ma, my brother-in-law, and my nephew." Cornelia looks away. "Every _Novilunium_, when Sol's light is not reflected from the moon to watch over us, this city and others are pillaged by the Youma."

"What are they?"

"Shadow creatures, no one who lives has ever properly seen one." She shudders. "But they've got claws longer than a hunting bird's and bodies that are so stretched out they might be bone. They attack, and they hit people with bright green blasts that leave you weakened for days...and they pick a dozen or so unlucky souls off the streets or from their beds. They herd them into the center of the vegetable market...and they dissappear."

"And this goes on every month."

"As far as I can remember." Cornelia wipes a tear with her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's just the summer I started working for you, my sister was one of those stolen - we've long known the King can do nothing. It's a demon's work. And the King has no power over it."

Serenity smells a lie in that, a lie just like the King's assertion that he could wield the Golden Crystal's power.

"You know," Cornelia sniffs, wrapping the crystal in a cloth and returning it to her. "I thought he really couldn't do anything - even after all the lies he told to you - but now, I just can't help wondering, Milady, does he let the Youma in?"

"Maybe." Serenity clenches her hand around the still warm gem within the cloth. "We'll talk to the Priestesses...but I think he could have. I think he's the one that calls the fog too."

_Plenilunium_

The full face of the moon shines over the crowded Cloister garden as Serenity stands before the pillar of the guardian cupping the golden crystal between her hands.

"You've been able to tap into its raw power before now," The Mother Priestess says as she stands apart from the circle of Priestesses and Cornelia. "Let's see you channel it."

Serenity takes a deep breath "Are you sure it will work...all it's done until now is overwhelm me."

"You need to have a focus - it's like any other magic. Intent is key. Hold onto what you want in your mind - then say the phrase just as I taught you."

Serenity stares down at the cloth-covered crystal in her hand, fingers hovering over the hem of the handkerchief. "Okay."

The crowd waits breathless as she lifts the cloth away from the gem, and wraps her hand around it, setting the legendary crystal ablaze in bright, golden, light.

She feels the tidal wave of power churning in her, rising up as the light blinds her to the outside world.

Intent. Intent. she struggles to find enough of one. _let me control the power_. No, not nearly enough. the feeble thought does not match the force of this crystal.

_What can I focus on._

The vision of golden armor flashing the pink of heavy lightning begins to bleed through the golden light.

_That's it!_ Serenity clenches the crystal tighter, grabbing hold of the vision before it can consume her. _Give me the power to help her_. She commands the crystal. _Give me the power to fight with her_.

"Earth Power Make-Up!"

She feels the force of light explosion shift, pulling in close to her on all sides as its warmth covers her skin. Instead of drifting in a sea of the immeasurable power, she now felt it wrapping around her, merging with her, as she became its vessel instead.

It might only have been an instant before the power settled, contained within her. But it is long minutes of silence before she unclenches her hands from the Golden Crystal and peaks open her eyes.

Every priestess in the crowd - and Cornelia as well - had fallen to their knees. She looked out over the fifty people who bowed their heads before her, many lifting their eyes to see.

She regards the crystal in her now glove covered hands, watching it float just above her palms. She jumps as something clicks against her chest. In the center of a green bow that draws both ends of her ocean-blue collar together, is a lavender brooch inlaid with amethyst, the front has swung open to reveal a locket within - with a pocket carved just the right shape for the Golden Crystal.

She guides the gem into the protective casing and watches as it snaps shut.

As the Mother Priestess rises to her feet Serenity takes in the rest of the transformation: the gems that now weigh down the small braid that wraps around her head and the rest of her hair; the blue skirt and the green bow that fits onto the back of it; and the sandals on her feet, green leather straps securing them at the tops of her calves.

"Well?" The Mother Priestess asks as the others take their cue to rise.

"This is amazing." Serenity says, jumping up into the air and landing effortlessly atop the Pillar before hopping back to the ground. "It's all here within me. I could take Moonlight right now and -" She yelps as her favored sword suddenly appears in her right hand, glowing with a faint golden light of its own. "Holy -"

"Try to use that power then," The Mother advises her. "Nothing too noticeable...aim for that bench there" She pointed to the marble seat on the left side of the Cloister.

Serenity worked her sword through a set of moves as she thought. "All about intent right?"

"Certainly."

She trains her eyes on the bench and lifts her free hand towards it. "Earth Rose Monsoon!"

A concussive force erupts from her palm, sending a rain of rose petals to pelt the marble bench. The whole cloister gasps as the stone in front of them melts under the floral assault, leaving nothing more than a pool of marble ore on the ground.

"The Youma would be no match at all, Milady." Cornelia says over the dull roar of priestesses voices all exclaiming at once.

Serenity eyes her work with a sudden sadness.

_Helios should have been here to see this_.

_Luna Gibba_.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" She shouts, stabbing the sword into the trough of dry soil.

As the light pours through the blade, sprouts grow up in the dead earth, growing tall to become the staple grain of Elysium in mere seconds.

"Excellent work for the night, Serenity." The Mother says as she approaches "You've got a very good grasp of it for a guardian who only truly accessed her powers last week.

"Thank you," Serenity says letting her transformation fade leaving only the brooch over her normal clothes. She clips it to the chain she'd fastened around her neck and conceals it beneath her shirt. "I just need to be ready for the next _Novilunium_. That has definitely been a good incentive"

"_Novilunium_. The Mother Priestess regards her sharply. "Surely you won't be fighting the Youma this month."

"Yes…" Serenity hedges.

"No, absolutely - even your Cornelia will agree it's too soon for you to be fighting Youma"

She looks over at her maid, who has been gossiping with Farah just a few feet away. "Well?"

"I - oh don't look at me with your noble face, Milady. I'm not agreeing just because you'd rather I did." She looks at The Mother Priestess. "I've seen the Youma capture victims...they're viscious and there's so many of them...truly, Serenity, you are a master with your sword...and the magic is impressive to watch. But you've been training for single opponents here. The Youma attack in hordes."

"But people are going to die," she lashes out at them.

Cornelia averts her eyes, but the Mother looks directly at her. "People have died each month now for fifteen years. More will before this is all through. I know you're powerful, but you've not seen them fight, nor are we prepared now to be there to advise you. I know, it's difficult, but you must let this _Novilunium _pass. We'll reevaluate our capabilities for assistance and your own readiness for next month.

"But-"

"Don't argue with me on this Guardian - I'm truly sorry, but your life is risk I'm unwilling to take."

_Luna Dividua_

"_Why am I the Guardian if I'm not a real princess, Helios?"_

"_The planet wanted you instead."_

"_But why, a bastard could never be as good as a royal heir."_

"_You think so," Helios pulled up his horse alongside hers in the wide open yard of the grounds. "Well I've clearly never told you the story of Tana, have I?"_

"_Tana?"_

"_Mhmm." Helios waved at the high curtain wall. "She was this planet's second Guardian…and it was quite the scandal at the time, she was only a shepherd's daughter, you see. They didn't even discover her until her eleventh birthday. The tales say everyone was concerned that a girl raised guarding sheep was hardly fit to defend the planet or Sol from the forces set against it…and"_

"_And!" she begged, making her horse shake its head in annoyance as she bounced on its back._

"_Well no one thought she'd live more than a hundred or two years. The last seven or so guardians had all been felled before their thousandth year. So surprise it was to them when she became the longest lived Guardian ever, was even adopted by the royal family."_

"_Really."_

"_Oh yes, she's still the longest lived Guardian to-date. And she helped defeat an evil spirit that had plagued this planet since its infancy."_

"_Did she have other battles."_

"_Many more. She flew at the lead of her allies with nothing more than broadsword for her defense…well, and a sizable amount of magic."_

"_But…but swords are heavy." She protested, remembering her recent attempts to lift only a wooden one._

"_True enough, but there's the trick – Tana worked very hard to be strong. There wasn't a man, woman, or Martian who could best her in a match."_

"_Wow."_

"_So you see…Terra, the Planet doesn't choose the guardian because they're born into powerful families. It chooses them because they have powerful hearts..."_

~_paxlunae_~

"They say you sleep a lot…I can't imagine you've got much else to do," Serenity whispers through the bars of the cell. "Come on Helios, wake up…you should see. I finally transformed. See…I'm a full Sailor." She frowns at the lost man staring at the cracks in the walls. "And you should be here to see it, Helios."

The man turns his head towards hers and frowns. "You're the one I tried to murder then?"

"No –" She crouches down on the grimy stone floor so that he might see her face. "You never did at all. You tried to save me."

"You say one thing…boy says another…and yet another the king." He lets his head fall back with a thud against the wall. "I can't say anything of course. Can't remember anything, can't believe anything. So none of it matters. Nothing matters."

Serenity sighs and bites her lip to help stem the tears. "You matter to me…I'm going to help you."

He only stares at her blankly.

"I um…" She picks up the tied cloth she's brought with her. "Here's some food."

When his thin and trembling hand comes up to take the parcel, she grasps it through the bars and holds onto him. "Believe this at least…you are a good man, Helios…and a good father." She has not quite been successful with the tears. One falls onto Helios' hand. "I just wish I could get your memories back."

Something rattles down the hall – a key opening a door.

"I'm sorry. I'll visit again soon." She says, dropping his hand and bolting down the hall, dropping her transformation as she goes.

On the other side of the dungeon, two boys push open the door with the key the generous guard had given them. Ronan pauses in the doorway, torch held aloft.

"Did you see that, Phae?"

"What?"

"I thought I saw…no forget it, it was probably a rat."

They find Helios where he always is, though now clutching hold of a parcel of tonight's roast with white-knuckled hands.

"Oh Pa-Helios, sorry. Someone brought you food," Phaeton smiles.

"Phaeton,"

"Yeah, that's right, you remembered."

"My son," he whispers.

Phaeton and Ronan freeze, for neither had thought it right to share that with the lost man. "P-papa."

"I remember you're my son."

_Corniculata_

She wakes with a start, screams in her ears following her even after the visions have faded.

She rolls out of bed, rubbing her eyes. It had started out with the Charioteer riding into battle, but quickly she'd been catapulted into the aftermath - of that battle or perhaps many more. Screams of warriors dying among other soldiers, screams of a Charioteer knocked from her chariot, but it was the screams of whom she knew to be civilians that had woken her from the nightmare.

Shivering, Serenity wraps her arms around her torso and walks to the window - open to the surprisingly chill summer breeze. She leans out of the window sill and looks up.

The moon is a sliver of light in the sky, barely any of its large body remains in Sol's path.

_Novilunium _will be tomorrow.

The locket which stays with her even when she detransforms, hangs heavily around her neck.

Fourteen people were going to die tomorrow night.

She sighs. There'll be no getting back to bed tonight. Her sword in its chest is a tempting prospect.

She pushes off the window sill and goes to the chest, picking up her blade. It's weight is as comforting as it has been for five years.

"_I can pick any one I want?" _

"_Any one," Helios says, gesturing to the gleaming blades propped up on a special display in the center of the armoury. _

_She peers at the tall broadswords of the finest steel and each with a sturdy grip. Two have jeweled pommels. _

_But none of them catch her attention, instead it is the blade left in it's sheath and mounted on the wall overhead that she walks towards._

"_What about that one, can you get it down for me?"_

"_Well...the King did say any sword." Helios stretches up to pull the blade off the pegs. "Give her a try."_

_She fits her hand around the old grip - cracking with age - and pulls the broadsword from its sheath._

"_It's _heavy_" she grunts, hefting it with both hands. _

"_Perhaps another."_

"_No, no, I like this one. It's pretty and it'll teach me to be stronger, right?"_

"_Very true, and you know Terra, Guardian Tana was said to be just your age when she forged that. It seems perfectly fitting that you keep it as your own."_

_She lets her hand glide over the flat of the blade. "What did she call it."_

"_She called her Moonlight."_

_She hesitated for a moment, but then let the edge of the sword nick just the tip of her thumb. A fresh drop of blood rolled down the old blade._

"_Then that's what I'll call her too._"

Serenity pauses after the tenth set of exercises with Moonlight and sets the blade down on the vanity, she looks at her face - pale and sweaty - in the mirror.

"What would he say?" She asked her reflection. "If he remembered being my teacher, what would he tell me."

"_The role of the Guardian is an unforgiving job, but a more rewarding calling is hard to find."_

"_But I have to live for ages and ages...it'll be so lonely." _

"_Not necessarily. Those close to the guardians have been known to share their long lives. And if you are lonely do not despair." _He'd gestured towards the sun "_All the faith of Sol will be with you."_

Serenity frowns at her reflection. "He'd also agree with The Mother. It'd be rash. And he'd talk about chess."

"_Sometimes, though we don't want to." he'd said as he moved the white piece across the board. "We must sacrifice the pawn - a hard loss but a smart move."_

The reflection in her vanity mirror has a glowing crescent on her forehead - a sure sign that she is angry. "I hate sacrifices."

The weight on her chest feels like it might choke her. She grabs the chain attached to the Golden Crystal's locket and yanks it over her head.

The unassuming lavender oval spins in front of her.

"_When will I become Sailor Earth_?"

"_In a time of great need._"

Serenity sighs. "Screw it," she says to the crystal. "I've got to try - it'll be a learning experience."

She glances one more time out the window as she resolves to try to go back to bed.

the sliver of moon in the sky appears smaller than before, a stark reminder that _Novilunium _lies in wait for her tomorrow night.

Her time of great need won't wait for more practice.

~_À Suivre_~


	11. Novilunium

Disclaimer: If I owned it this would be canon. Alas, neither is true. Simple as that.

AN: I'm going to be away this weekend and thought you might like this sooner rather than later. Enjoy your early chapter. Once again, biweekly update schedule. But when it's a shorter chapter like this one don't be confused when it shows up a week early.

And review if you have the time. I respond to all reviews, and it helps me a lot to know what you all think. And you never know when a review will influence how this story progresses.

Novilunium

The night that the moon leaves the sky, Cornelia finds every excuse to stay in Serenity's rooms after she's gone to bed. Her maid suddenly discovers, as the hour candle burns past 21:00, that she just has to clean the privy now, that she's somehow neglected to fold the laundry all day, and that all the room's free surfaces need to be dusted.

Serenity listens to her pad softly around the room as she lies taut as a bowstring beneath the covers. The Golden Crystal's locket is clutched tightly in her hand.

Finally, as she watches the hour candle pass 23:30, Cornelia sighs, and one by one, the lights of the other candles and lamps around the room are doused. In the near darkness, Serenity watches Corenlia's shadow approach her door, pull it open, and then stop one final time to look at her.

_Leave_, she begs. Cornelia knows her to well. She will surely try to stop her if she suspects Serenity's plan.

Finally, Cornelia's shadow steps out of the room, and locks the door behind her.

Serenity jumps out of bed as soon as the lock clicks. She takes the chair that always sits at the writing desk and props it up under the door handle. She holds the locket to her heart.

_Give me the power to save Elysium,_ she wills.

"Earth Power Make-Up!"

The now familiar explosion of power fills her, and the uniform of Sailor Earth transforms in place of her nightgown.

She looks into the vanity mirror and frowns. Her blond hair would be telling enough without her unique amber eyes and the birthmark on her forehead marking her as the bastard Princess and Guardian Elysium has come to know.

She pulls open the top drawer of the vanity. Shuffling through it until a rarely used lavender veil meets her fingers. She pulls it out and holds it up in the dim light. Hard to see through from the outside, but, she holds it close to her eyes. Shear enough that she can see from behind it. Now how to keep it secured to her hair…

~_paxlunae_~

Beyond the Palace walls, shadow creatures descend on Elysium's streets. Near invisible in the darkness, their smoky forms morph as they near the level of the buildings. Pieces peel off their ghostly bodies to become arms, long claws growing rapidly from the ends.

The first one to reach the ground lets out an inhuman screech that sends the rats scurrying for cover. The many Forgetful that still wander the streets jerk their heads up from where they've curled up to sleep against doors, stables, and closed market stalls.

~_paxlunae_~

She manages the landing onto the second floor roof easily, imbued with the powers of the Sailor transformation.

From there, she leaps over the wall across the narrow outer courtyard of the palace.

Her leap falls just short. Her sandaled foot catches a stone on top of the wall, sending her tumbling the last twenty feet.

She rolls as she hits the ground, wheezing as she hauls herself to her feet.

_High ground,_ she remembers from the tactical lessons she'd occasionally sat in on with Augusto. She runs down the broad Palace Way towards the awning that hangs over one building's door. A quick leap on top of it, then another, and she's running again along the roofs, eyes looking all around for anything suspicious.

~_paxlunae_~

"Out, out, out!" The butcher shrikes as she chases the boy from the smoke house with a broom.

"Hey, hey," he trips onto the cobblestones, glaring up at his unwilling hostess. "I thought we had a deal."

"An' I told you, yah needed to find yer family by Novilunium." She huffs. "Otherwise I was kicking you out."

"But…but I haven't found them yet – I just need a little more time. Here, look!" He pulls the flute he'd recovered just yesterday morning from the place where he'd been found after the fog. "I found this – see the letter, B. My name starts with B. Now I'll just look for any missing who's names start with that." He stands and tries to walk back to the smoke house but the butcher keeps the broom between him and his shelter.

"I don't take any chances with street folk on Novilunium" she says. "Don't care what letter you think your name starts with, you aren't letting _them_ in my house. They'll drag you away and send my shop up in flames to boot." She turns and locks the smoke house door. "Stay away from the main marketplace, that's your best chance." She throws him one last glance as she opens the door to her home. "And if you're still all right tomorrow, you're welcome to come back and stay until you find your people."

He knows naught who "They" are that will be after him. But it sends goose bumps prickling across his skin. B ducks into the alley closest to the smoke house. Staying hidden will be best. His eyes twitching left, right, left, right, and he glances over his shoulder every few paces, looking for what _they_ might be.

The freezing punch in the back, shot from high overhead, takes B by surprise; his flute clatters onto the cobblestones. He sees his hand awash in a sickly green as the feeling leaves his legs. Thin, boney claws slide under his arms, peeling him off the street.

_Youma_ his brain supplies from memories he's had no luck recovering. The monster drags him high into the air as he struggles in its grip.

_"No use_" the noise cuts at his ears, it's like the sound of a cat's claws on metal. The youma rises quickly above the buildings as his struggles weaken, watching the green light leech his energy back into the youma's claws. It drags B towards the market he's begged for breakfast in since he woke up after the fog a month before.

It drops him to the ground into a cluster of other people and joins a ring of monsters that have encircled them, the sickly green energy lacing between them, growing closer and closer overhead into the shape of a vortex. He looks all around for an escape, any escape. But their ranks are impenetrable and his feet still refuse to move. He slumps helpless on the ground, head turned up towards the horror overhead.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" a voice calls out from beyond the growing wind from the vortex. He sees a bright flurry of red crash into one side of the youma's circle, blasting five of them out of the ranks and crumbling into ash marks along the road. The vortex overhead unravels, it's circle of power broken, and the remaining youma screech, heads turning towards the attack and flaming green eyes narrowing to see the brazen attacker.

B gaped up at their savior – the lone figure stands atop a nearby roof, masked by the night, he could only make out the flash of their sword and the strange shape of their head – a veil over what look like very large ears.

~_palunae_~

Serenity glares through her veil at the circle of youma hovering higher and higher into the air as they assess her.

"You've tormented the people of this city too long!" she shouts. "And I won't permit it any longer." She raises her sword as several of the youma hiss. "Leave. Or in the name of Sa-" _no_! She bites her tongue trying to think of how else to address herself. "In the name of Love and Justice," _there, that would work_. "I'll put an end to you!" She says, pointing Moonlight at the horde of monsters.

The fifteen remaining youma screech, causing glass windows around the market to shatter, as they launch up towards her, fangs barred, green energy collecting in their claws.

She braces herself on the edge of the roof.

"Moonlight Blast!" she swings the sword around to meet the barrage of green energy being thrown at her. The magic infused blade zings as it cuts down the green orbs, sending bits of energy ricocheting in all directions. One bit of dark magic cuts her cheek, several more hit youma, tearing their ghost-like forms apart and sending a rain of ash down on the hostages.

Suddenly there is a crack as the bricks beneath her feet buckle, one of the remaining youma has landed a hit on the wall. She falls forward, Moonlight slipping from her grip. Serenity rolls in the air and ducks her head, slapping the ground with her arms as it slams into her back. Something snaps. She rolls away, hearing blasts of green energy exploding on the cobblestones as the youma give chase.

She has to get back to her sword.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" She shouts again, lifting a hand as the concussive force sends the magical flowers tearing into three more of the monsters. The remaining seven dive out of the way.

"Look out!" someone shouts and she hears the sizzle of energy behind her. She launches off the ground just in time. The green blast cracks a large hole in the street.

Make that eight remaining youma.

She runs around the frightened crowd in the center of the square. Her sword, where has it fallen?

Serenity dodges left as the telling sizzle of another attack zooms past her, singing the edge of her skirt.

_Damnit_! Moonlight is nowhere around the roof she'd fallen from. She trips over the collapsed pieces of roof and puts the solid building wall between herself and the monsters.

Eight of them cluster in front of her, green energy glowing in their eyes as a mass of it collects between them. A ball as big as two of her hovers aloft, growing,

"Earth Rose - " she is cut off, stumbling as one of the youma dive out of their semi circle, cold, oily claws wrapping around her face.

The other seven pull their arms back, readying their ball of energy to launch towards her.

She can't use her powers if she can't speak…

_I can't lose my first fight! _Serenity thinks. She tightens her hands into fists. _Please do something_.

And screams.

The crescent on her forehead grows hot, the amethysts that reappeared in each bun after she'd secured the veil vibrate as the sound of her scream amplifies. She bites down on the clawed hand in her mouth and feels the youma recoil away, sees the bright beam shoot from her crescent mark to cut down two of the remaining monsters. The giant green orb flies out of the youma's hands, racing towards her.

Her scream is cut off abruptly when it hits, the dark energy freezing cold against her skin. She feels it knock her back, through the brick wall, into the building crumbling from the roof down.

"Ugh." She lifts her heavy head off the dusty floor, seeing six shadows still paralyzed by her scream hovering outside.

_They won't stay there much longer_, she thinks as she drags her legs underneath her and pushes herself off the floor, stumbling upright. _Cornelia wasn't kidding about those blasts_. She looks around the building, in the rubble from its collapsing roof, and rejoices.

There, under brick, mortar, and tile, is the pommel of her sword.

She hobbles across the room to the blade as the youma outside begin to recover from the paralyzing power of her scream. She hears the shriek of one as it is picked up by the others. The sound makes the building shake.

Finally Moonlight's familiar hilt is in her hand, as she drags it up into a guard position only to see the Youma gone,

Instead of fighting, they six of them are swarming the hostages, swooping in to haul the civilians off the ground.

She runs out, sending a Monsoon towards the first two youma who've lifted people off the ground they fall back the few feet to the pavement in a rain of ash.

She's cutting down one of the remaining four when the sizzle of an energy blast charges in from behind her. She dusts the youma too late to dodge it.

A body grunts as it hits her back. She whirls around to catch the teenage boy who's taken the blast for her, noting the green light that is soaking into his skin.

He's so thin. She lowers him to the ground and lifts her sword to the final three youma.

"Moonlight Blast!" She screams, cutting down the last three monsters before they can gather enough energy to attack.

Then she turns around again, all fourteen people are still struggling to sit up, they look up at her awed.

All except the teenage boy. His eyes are closed and his head turned towards the pavement. The green light of the youma's attack lingers beneath his skin.

_I can't save thirteen and lose one_, she thinks as she searches within her for enough magic. The first signs of exhaustion are taking their toll. She blinks her eyes heavily, hands shaking as she wraps both around Moonlight and kneels beside the dying boy.

_By Ra, this had better work_. She lifts her sword, touching just the tip of it to the boy's forehead.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" She gasps as her dwindling power surges outwards, blanketing not just the boy, but the others in the square.

She withdraws her sword as his eyes open, seeing people all around begin to stand.

She can feel the transformation weakening. She needs to leave. Now.

"People of Elysium," she says, "you no longer need to fear the youma. Know that from now on, this city is protected." And without looking back, she jumps up into the air, falling onto a rooftop as her transformation gives out, leaving her in a nightgown on a rooftop in the marketplace, sword still hanging from her hand.

The light of dawn has not yet peeked over the Horizon.

She shakes off the exhaustion as she begins to jog along the rooftops. If she hurries, Cornelia's friendly guard will still be on duty at the servants gate. She grins. _Cornelia_. Her maid is going to reprimand her for a week.

_I don't care_, she thinks as the adrenaline from the fight keeps her feet moving. _I saved them, I saved all of them_.

~_paxlunae_~

He stares up at the roof where the savior had taken off, standing on cobble stones where his father used to display his sculptures before his hands grew to old to carve.

His name is Brann. He looks down at his hands, completely free of the cold green light, and around at the others in the square.

"Do you remember?" he asks voice hoarse as his brain runs over information. His father lives in Riverside. He'd been coming back from a night performing with the flute when the fog had taken him. He worked a day job on the docks.

"It's all back." one older man in the crowd cries, "Everything the fog took...all six times."

"Who was that?" Another person asks, hand clutching her head.

"A rabbit spirit." One man suggests holding his fists above his head. "What else could those ears be?"

Brann lifts his hand to his forehead. Not even a scratch where that magical blade had nicked his skin.

_A rabbit spirit for sure,_ he thinks as he looks back at the rooftop hoping for just one more glimpse. _I need to tell Pa!_

~_paxlunae_~

Serenity's arms feel like lead as she reaches her hand up to push open the wooden servants' gate, seeing no sign of a guard in the watch tower overhead.

Miraculously the wood gives under her hand, swinging open onto the outer courtyard of the Palace.

"There you are!" She jumps as Cornelia appears at her side, her guard with his helmet askew and the collar of his tunic unlaced leaning up on the wall beside her. "All that fun on the town and you didn't even bring me along. Some friend." she winks at the guardsman as she hooks an arm around Serenity. "I'll see you tomorrow night, okay Parvus?" She giggles and blows him one final kiss as she hurries Serenity through the doors that lead to the kitchens, ice rooms, and dining halls, fingers hooking into the familiar handle of a hidden servants door as she drags Serenity up the stairs.

"I swear to Ra if you've gone and hurt yourself…" Cornelia mutters. "Small miracle you weren't killed."

"But Cornelia, I was right." She murmurs as she watches her feet follow Cornelia's pace. "I won...I saved them all."

Cornelia freezes as the reached the door of Serenity's rooms, "All of them."

"I'm going again next month," she tells Cornelia. "But," she collapses onto her bed. Pillows! Warm blankets!

"But you're going to train more so you don't come back like this." Cornelia mutters as she returns the chair to the writing desk. "Milady."

She looks back towards the bed, seeing Serenity sprawled out across the covers, one hand still clutching Moonlight close. She shakes her head. "Don't think you're getting out of this lecture. I bet those Priestesses will have lots to say to you."

But Serenity only snores, mouth turned up in a bit of a smile.

Cornelia bites her lip to keep from chuckling as she slips out of the room and locks the door.

Perhaps if she starts chatting now, enough staff will think her Lady's taken sick that she won't be missed at breakfast.

She's sure the Guardian could use the extra sleep.

~_À Suivre_~


	12. Interplanetary Relations

Disclaimer: I am but a wee college grad with no money to buy Sailor Moon and no taste for copyright infringement. This is simple fun.

AN: Public shout out to Convergence-Eternal cause they've reviewed every damn chapter so far, and are generally awesome. You silent appreciators should take a page out of their book ;) Also I told C-E I'd have this done on Sunday then got stuck on the battle scene so…SORRY! And Happy Graduation!

Interplanetary Relations

"_Keep your mouths closed." The Charioteer's sharp voice cuts through the rain even with one hand holding a kerchief over her face. The falling water masks the soldiers around her, increasing its tempo to a downpour as she shouts. "Every drop in those clouds could be the end of you!"_

_A high whistle makes her large horses prance and the Charioteer whips around. "The horde to the west is down!" A young soldier cries out as she pounds through the rain, hand over her mouth. "The oil fire worked!" _

"_Good woman. Where's your horse?"_

"_Felled by a stray one on my way back," she pants, leaning forward to keep the rain out of her mouth. "But the way west is clear."_

"_Excellent." The Charioteer in golden armor hauls the soldier up beside her, jerking the reins as the horses pull her muddy chariot around. "Company! Move out, keep the civilians covered. We're heading for the bunker. We'll make our rescue rendezvous in eight hours." She calls out to the horses, towering beasts with thick mains and narrow jaws, and looks around behind her as they break into a canter. "And watch the trees!"_

"Milady, _wake up_!" Cornelia exclaims for the fourth time.

But the lump under the thick covers only rolls further away "No."

Cornelia huffs, "you don't get that option." She walks around the bed to the windows, rattling in the blustering autumn air, and throws the panes open, letting a blast of icy wind into the room.

"_Cornelia_!" Serenity shrinks further into the blanket. "I've been out in that cold all night...please go away. Tell my tutor or Terrio or whoever that I've got a fever or some such."

"Even if you did, you have to get up," Cornelia says, grabbing the edge of the covers in her hands. "Everyone's rushing around. A courier just arrived from Jupiter, their Prince is requesting a royal audience."

"What?" Serenity asks, head peeking up over the covers. Cornelia yanks hard on the blankets, letting the cold air rush into Serenity's cocoon. "Owww!" She launches up in bed, chasing the blankets, crossing her arms to block the cold. "That was awful." Her eyes catch the number of notches left on the hour candle, melting down on the vanity, and she groans. "I went to bed an hour ago."

"Oh, Milady!" Cornelia throws a long sleeved wool top at her. "Was it a bad fight? I swear it's never taken you so long to defeat them."

"No, I did really well. I've been practicing that new attack as well,"she yawns. "But the youma've learned not to attack Elysium - I told you last month they've started leaving this city alone now that I've been fighting them. They only attacked the provinces."

"You left the city!" Cornelia whispers, bustling around her to make the bed.

"Uhuh," Serenity yanks the warm wool over her head. "The priests in the western temple raise these pegasus horses - and they had me take one out to fight the youma outside the city. I'd stopped three attacks before the sun started - " she yawns again "coming up."

"You need to be careful," Cornelia scowls. "They call you the Rabbit Spirit but it would only take one accident for everyone to know you're really the Guardian."

"I'm just lucky so few people recognize the uniform," Serenity says, stepping into a pair of leggings and then boots. "Is my hair still..."

"In buns, yes let me see." Cornelia thrusts an apple into her hands as she sets about untwisting the buns that Serenity wears to keep her veil secured in battle. "It'll be awfully snarled now that you've slept in these."

"If I slept at all," she says, biting back another yawn. "The transformation just forms them automatically now. It seems to like them." She bites into the apple. "S'not so good about undoing them though."

"Hold still, there that looks neat enough. Let me just braid the sides together." Cornelia mutters drawing her blond locks back.

"Thank you for the apple as well," Serenity says as she swallows another piece. Then frowns. "Wait, what did you say about a prince?"

~_paxlunae_~

"Father, I don't understand why _we _have to wake up early." Augusto scowls from his place in the line of children waiting at the grand front doors of the palace. "Why can't this Juper wait for us to invite him."

"Because he's the Juper Prince." Ronan points out for his brother.

"Indeed," Terrio nods at his youngest son. "And as you're all well aware, this is the first foreign delegate that's come to Earth in many years." He eyes each of them sternly, lingering on Serenity at the end of the line. "So best behavior."

The sound of trumpets from the top of the curtain wall silences them as the household of servants who form an aisle between the tall front gates and the doors straighten up. Serenity can see Cornelia far down the line. The gates at the front of the courtyard creak loudly as they're pushed open.

Serenity gasps at the eight winged horses pulling the carriage, they're the same build as the beasts that drive the charioteer in her dreams. Uncropped, fluorescent green manes grow from between their ears right down their back in elaborately braided tails, and as they approach her mouth drops open. Their hooves are nearly three times the size of any horse she's ridden - and their height - three bend over the fit their ears under the front gates - is just as massive.

As the large carriage wheels through the gates a door on the side swings open. A figure in crisp white and grey jumps to the ground and strides confidently towards them. Serenity sees one woman in the same white and grey leap from a cab atop the carriage and follow him, raising a banner that bears an unfamiliar sigil: a bright green symbol - much like a curved four - on a forest green background, with pink and gold embroidery lines tracing the edges of the flag.

The prince - as he must be if the bronze circulet atop his brown hair is anything to go by, gives a polite nod to Terrio as he stops infront of the steps. "Royal cousin, thank you for having us here on such short notice."

She sees Terrio's mouth twitch "yes your communication was rather abrupt. The messenger did relay a certain urgency."

"Quite." The prince nods to each other member of the royal family, coming at last to Serenity. "And this must be the Guardian." She jumps as he turns towards her, dipping into a low bow. Down the line of household servants there are small gasps - to nod to a _King_ and bow to the bastard daughter no matter her station. She sees Augusto and Nora across from her, gaping, and Ronan, Gaius, and Cecelia glancing uncomfortably at their father. And then there are Terrio and Portia, who seem unfazed, though the King's head tilts thoughtfully to the side.

"Pleasure to meet you," she says, bowing in kind. "Prince…"

"I am Hermes, Son of Fredja and Bjor, Prince of Jupiter and Duke of the moon Ganymede. I come on behalf of the Queen requesting your aid."

"Terra has never seen battle," Terrio says from the steps. "I hardly think she can do so much good on her own. If you require her powers, it might do better for a troop of my knights to accompany her."

"Even an inexperienced guardian would do us more good – to the Queen's mind - than more soldiers." The prince reaches into his dress coat and pulls out a thickly rolled scroll of parchment – tied with green ribbon and sealed with the Jupiter sigil in pink wax. "She's willing to renegotiate full trade with your world in exchange for the Guardian's aid."

She hears the silence overtake everyone within hearing range. Terrio, himself a bit shell shocked, takes the parchment in his fist. "Jupiter is very far from us and we're no equal partner in these dealings. How am I to trust that after our guardian helps you this deal will still be valid? Your esteemed mother had no lost love for me."

Hermes nods. "If we could speak at length you'll see that my sister's reasoning is not nearly as strict as my mother's. She knows trade with your world would do us both mutual good and she finds our current problem far outstrips any of our parents politics."

"Still – one's word is only so much."

Hermes shrugs, a behaviour Serenity has never seen in any noble, and gestures to the horses on his carriage. "This vehicle is designed for six horses. As a gesture of good faith I shall gift you two of these horses. We understand that at the time of our trade embargo your space-worthy herd had been all but wiped out in an unfortunate fire."

Terrio looks out at the courtyard of servants and at Serenity, who has not moved since the Prince bowed to her. "Shall we discuss this over breakfast – privately." He beckons the Prince forwards as a servant pushes open the front doors of the palace. "And that way we can let my household return to their work."

As soon as he is through the doors she rushes to Cornelia "Tell me there's a servant's hidey hole behind the business dining room."

"Hidey hole, no. Milady they want us out of sight, not spying here, there, and everywhere." But Cornelia's eyes glimmer with mischief. "But…there is a guests quarters next door that isn't in use. We'll take the kitchen stairs up after they've been served."

~_paxlunae_~

"Is the fare to your liking." Terrio's voice filters through the wall.

"Certainly." Hermes of Jupiter's lighter voice replies "We had a few Earth vintages left over from before my parent's sanctions – your wines beat out Saturn's in my book. And oh – these must be olives." Cheers Hermes as he's heard popping one into his mouth. "These are what we call a delicacy."

"Indeed." Terrio hums. "Now what is this business that's prompted the Queen to offer such – well these are quite generous terms." He says as the crackle of parchment being unrolled reaches their ears. "But, I can't just release the Guardian so simply. The situation is delicate."

"You needn't remind me. All the worlds are well aware of the situation you're in. I've had word the…forgetfulness problem that has accompanied your reign is no mere coincidence."

"Spies in my court now," Terrio's gruff voice rumbles, "when you know I've none in yours?"

"Who said they were in the court." The Prince takes a sip of wine. "You'd have spies – just as your predecessors did – everywhere. But, my sources tell me you're not on the best of terms with Sol's largest order. Never bodes well to have the priests against you."

"We have our agreements on Earth, Prince Hermes. If a few spies is the price for having those gossip mongers away from my life then, that is just how we do things."

"Of course, besides we'll have little use for spies ourselves unless we reign in our current problem."

"A forgetful fog or youma of your own?"

"That would be manageable by comparison." Hermes clinks his glass on the table. "I won't bore you with the details. We need the Guardian's abilities. I can see I've not convinced you even with a trade renewal. Consider this. The Queen has no lost love for you, nor need of your trade. But she does hold the key to far more than just one trade agreement."

"I see no guarantees from other monarchs at this table, if that's what you're hinting at." Terrio grouses. "And you've far from convinced me that allowing Terra to leave is in my best interest."

"If full access to Jupiter's trade does not convince you that how does the end of the full embargo sound."

Terrio chokes.

Hermes continues talking as smoothly as ever. "Jupiter has…sway. Which, I'm sure you're aware. Mercury needs our trees, Mars, our food. Uranus – though they go through Saturn to get them – covet our horses. Neptune would not be half as rich without our lightning nets protecting their water bound cities. Venus doesn't need our water ,but try telling their upper caste that. They pay more gold than you have in your coffers just to have ice from our poles."

"You've made your point. You're saying one word from your capital and full trade resumes between my world and the others?"

"Indeed. You'd have the latest technology Mercury can offer, glass of every color and grade from Venus - perhaps even their sulphur-resistant steel. I imagine even if you don't need Mar's abundant iron, their soldiers would be worth your time to hire. Uranus will offer you anything for the slight chance that you align with them rather than us. It all hinges on your ability to let the Guardian fight as she's destined to do."

"What good does that do me if she learns the truth." Terrio snaps. "If I'm to send you my guardian,"

"Sol's guardian." Hermes reminds him.

"Then I do insist a full regiment of my soldiers go with her."

"And have them all die." Hermes fires back. "You've no idea the threat my own soldiers face. Let alone yours who'll need all the medical tricks my world has just to walk under our gravity."

"It's the only way to ensure no slip ups."

"You're really worried we'd tell the Guardian the truth."

"For more than my own comfort. Terra was hit by the fog recently. When the forgetful are told things that conflict with the reality they've constructed around them they can suffer dire consequences."

"Must we continue the pretense that you care for her. Even if such a symptom could overpower her magic, we both know why she must not be told."

Terrio's chair creaks as he leans back. "All the trade in the nine worlds doesn't comfort me if my strongest asset becomes my enemy."

"And we shan't tell her, if those are your terms for her assistance. It is even in our proposal. The Queen is fully prepared to accept your right to rule."

"The soldiers still go with her to ensure there are no accidents."

"One soldier," Hermes says. "And I'm not being difficult either. They'll need constant protection from our forces until they get their land-legs. One soldier is all we'd have the resources to watch. After all your Guardian's minder is no good to you dead."

"Then this…could be agreeable." There's a shuffling beside the table. "Enjoy the rest of your breakfast Prince – I'm sure Portia will be a long to keep you company. I'll see about a guard to send along with you."

"Pleasure doing business with you." They hear the Prince's chair screech as though he's stood up to kiss Terrio's hand. "Do have the Guardian ready by sundown."

~_paxlunae_~

As The King's footsteps fade, Phaeton slips from Ronan's shoulders, both of them staring at the ceiling of the storage closet.

"Phae, what did my father do?"

~_paxlunae_~

"He's sending me indefinitely." Serenity says as she paces her room, watching Cornelia bustle about filling a rucksack with her clothes. "Do you know what this means?"

"That you and one hunky guard get to romp around with cute Juper soldiers for the foreseeable future."

"_Cornelia!_"

"Do you think they're all as cute as the Prince?"

"Indefinitely. On another planet. Full of people I can't trust."

"Oh, I hardly think that shall be the case Milady."

"But - you heard what the Prince said to Terrio at their breakfast."

"It was a business meeting - If I were the Prince, I'd have said anything to get the King to agree."

"I don't know, it doesn't sound like their Queen cares much about how Terrio stole the throne. They mentioned the fire as well - they know all about how my parents died, all my family. And they still want to trade with him again."

"Doesn't that just mean their problem is so bad they're getting desperate." Cornelia holds up a gown and deliberates. "No, what am I thinking you'll be fighting, not going to a ball."  
"_Cornelia_."

"What. I don't see why you're so uptight." She hangs the dress up in the wardrobe. "Milady, they need you. They're not going to care whether you're loyal to Terrio or not. And you might very well make yourself some allies with them."  
"And some guardsman watching my every move." Serenity clutches the Golden Crystal's locket in her hand. "Terrio doesn't even know I can transform."

"Well then just say you did it by instinct. Terrio's a soldier himself, he'd hardly question that."

Serenity sighs. "I've just gotten used to it all being secret - and I rely on you and the Priestesses too much, clearly. There I'll be...on my own."

"Well," Cornelia says as she hands Serenity a full rucksack, "that's not the case either. Jupiter has its own priests, and it sounds like you'll have whole armies to support you. And that will be good for when things do come to a head with Terrio."

"What things?"

It's then that Cornelia frowns at her. "The throne, Serenity. It's rightfully yours, is it not? Terrio's the reason why Jupiter and the other worlds stopped the trade with Earth to begin with."

Serenity's racing thoughts skid to a halt. She looks down at the locket that hangs around her neck. "I hadn't even thought..."

"Right, no, I didn't mean to complicate things, Milady. I just assumed."

"That I want to throw our planet into a civil war?"

"I - " Cornelia frowns. "Well it's a possibility isn't it?"

Serenity shakes her head. "Let's talk about this later. I'm to meet my guard and the Prince soon."

"Of course." Cornelia rises from the bed with her, glancing around to make sure nothing is forgotten. "Oh - and one more thing."

"What?"

Cornelia pulls her close, chin resting atop Serenity's head. "Be careful, Milady."

~_paxlunae_~

It takes a week for the flying horses to travel between Earth and Jupiter.

_The faster ones are all trapped within the storm zone, _Hermes had explained._ These were the only suitable creatures on Ganymede. _

The clock above the carriage door says it's only 3:00 am, but Serenity is wideawake anyways. The bright light from Jupiter had woken her as it pierced the constant blackness of space. She could feel a nervous energy building in her as well, bouncing on her toes as she watched the planet approach through the window. It felt as though Jupiter was calling to her.

The planet approaches quickly – growing from the size of Earth's moon into a mammoth that swallows the surrounding space. So close she can no longer see the poles, Serenity marvels at the thick clouds – orange, red, and even pink, that swirl around the atmosphere. Except for area. She squints as they approach. One massive spiral of clouds is dark grey, it spins and tendrils of grey spin out from its center, leaching into the surrounding clouds as it moves.

"Magnificent isn't it." Hermes soft voice says as he comes to join her by the window. He points out the deep grey storm. "That, believe it or not, is normally a bright red. We call it the great red spot. Children born under it's rain are fabled to be stronger and braver than any others on our world."

"And some dark magic is infecting it?"

"More like a pollen, we think." Hermes says, leaning against the window frame. "Months ago, a large meteorite exploded over one of our resevores. No immediate consequences. Then the water became grey, infected. Thousands have died." He clears his throat. "And the storm brought the hordes of monsters with it."

"Am I to defeat them."

"Once we get the spread under control." He points a finger towards the fast moving storm as they pass. "The Great Red Spot, as Martians have termed it, is over 20,000 km across. And it's arms – you can't see them as well from this far above that cloud level – spin out in all directions as it moves across the surface."

"Is the rain killing people as well?"

"Yes, that's a recent development. It's what prompted us to summon you. We thought we had contained it in the rivers and lakes until the spot picked up the alien pathogen."

"Is there anyway to stop it?"

"My researchers on Ganymede are looking ceaselessly – oh, Septimus have a look."

The grizzled guard who has made the journey with them makes his way around the carriage, one arm on the wall to help him with the weak gravity.

As he looks down at the storm, Hermes continues "what you'll be doing is evacuating what civilians are left in the storm's path up into the mountain caves where we can send rescue crews down. You'll get your specific orders on Ganymede. On the ground, you and the reinforcements I send with you shall be rendezvousing with the Commander on the ground.

"Do they ride a chariot?" she blurts without thinking. "um, I mean I've been having these guardian dreams about a warrior in a chariot fighting battles in the rain."

"Really," Hermes muses. "Well I'm no seer, but I'd say that bodes well – to have your powers atuned to our troubles. No offense meant, Lady Terra. But we were not even sure you could transform. Can you?"

"I…" she tries very hard to swallow the truth. "I think I can." She says in the hoarse tone that often accompanies her lies. "I've never had occasion too, but much of my magic is instinctive. Put me on the ground and I'm sure I could do good."

"Sirm" Septimus says, "Uh, pardon me. Why make such a bold deal with our King if Terra here is such a gamble?"

"Because our capital fell two weeks ago." The prince says. "Our Martian allies refuse to send us more troops and the Neptunese forces are not suited to mountain warfare. You are our last hope."

Serenity gulps in the suddenly silent room. "I'll do my very best to win your war, Prince." _I hope I don't let them down._

~_paxlunae_~

_The golden armor of the charioteer is covered entirely in mud as she bends forward, reins of a horse in hand as she walks it through the heavy rain. A hand holds a metal mask – it's straps broken – over her face. And on the horses back, three other masked and wounded soldiers are tied down._

"_Just two hours more." She shouts back into the line of troops. "I can see the rain breaking ahead. We'll be able to regroup atop Fjall's peak."_

"_Are you sure they can't climb this high?" another masked warrior says as they ride up beside her. _

"_No – but let's stay positive." She squints through the goggles into the rain. "Yes, we lost a city today, but tomorrow there's another to save."_

~_paxlunae_~

Though she's still rattled by the latest dream, Serenity can't help but gasp as their chariot – flown by one of the massive flying horses – emerges below Jupiter's thick clouds.

The land below is lush and covered in greenery – willows curve down towards the ground forming thick jungles and what look like tall oaks and birches grow in number as they approach a long line of mountains whose peaks climb far into the clouds.

"You can see the arm of the storm there" their driver Brioget points to the heavy gray wall of rain that cuts across the mountain range. "Message we received from the ground this morning said we'd have a couple of hours before it overtook Mytilaen"

"And what of the monster hordes?" Serenity asks as she looks for the city that she's been told resides at the base of the mountain range's foothills."

"It may just be us against them in the beginning. They're spread across the storm front so no good data on the numbers we'll fight today." She holds a hand up to her ear where a stange piece of cork is stuffed. "Yes, they say the monsters energy signature will overlap with the city just as we arrive." She flicks the reigns and the horses' wings beat faster. "How are you doing Earthling?"

"Fantastic," says Septimus beside her. The medicine he'd been given to help him acclimate to the gravity is turning him a bit blue. "Don't know how much use I'll be."

"If we set you up towards the back with one of the catapults will you know how to use it."

"Absolutely." He frowns as he holds his head. "Am I meant to have a headache?"

"Some do," Brioget shrugs. "Shit! below, Guardian: the river."

She sees as soon as she focuses on the bubbling, grey, rapids. Brown, spiked creatures are flooding out of the water. They run in an arrow formation towards the road and houses on the edge of Mytilaen. Brioget races ahead of them, putting their chariot down on the main road into the city.

"Think you can take care of that Guardian?" Brioget asks as she readies her sword.

Serenity nods, hand already reaching for the locket. "Earth Power Make-Up" She shouts as she launches out of the chariot.

The golden power she's grown familiar with embraces her, leaving her familiar Sailor uniform behind. Raising her hand, she concentrates on the latest attack she's had a chance to master. "Earth Thorn Hurricane!" green spikes spiral from her palm, exploding around the monsters and breaking off into tiny pieces of shrapnel, tearing the creatures at the front of the wave to shreds. The rest hiss, barring curved fangs, and rush backwards into the churning river.

"I'm gonna like you," Brioget announces as she waves in the fifty chariots traveling behind them – half with catapults attached. "Right," she shouts. "Set those up facing the river, in line with the buildings. I want an archer beside each. The rest of the archers use the chariots as cover. Close combat fighters make sure your armor's secure. Guardian," she turns to Serenity. "Where would best suit you?"

Serenity bites her lip considering, spotting a boat house just a hundred feet away. "I can stand that roof there to work my spells. And jump in with the sword if I'm needed."

"Good." Brioget nods as Septimus and another soldier wheel a catapult back towards the buildings.

Just then there's a gurgling in the river. The soldiers glance up to look. More monsters spiked skulls appear over the rushing water, this eyes peaking out along the river as far as Serenity can see. Catapults squeak as they're frantically turned to cover the area. Serenity jogs over to the boathouse and jumps onto the roof as the creatures begin to hiss. Their numbers spread out evenly along the river. She shivers as she notes their eyes – large mushroom caps – bulging out from brown and grey streaked skin stretched thin across their skulls.

"Ready," she hears Brioget call from below. The creatures hiss, a wave of water rising up, lifting them off the ground as it spills over the river's edge, gushing towards their army.

"Wait." Brioget's voice wobbles. Serenity raises one hand to let loose another round of thorns. The wave of water gushes towards their position. Fifty feet off, thirty…

"FIRE!"

Twenty catapults thwack. Barrels launch into the advancing monsters. They crack open, coating the horde and the water in oil. Serenity barely hears the twang of twenty odd arrows before a fire roars up, consuming the wave. The creatures shriek as they burn. the water evaporates. She shields her face from the heat, grinning.

Then she notices still more brown heads rising from the water. The soldiers scramble to reset the catapults. Archers across the line raise cross bows.

"Aim for the eyes!" she hears shouted across the line of soldiers.

_Fire will kill them at once, _Hermes had briefed her yesterday on Ganymede. _Though taking out their heads works just as well. Body shots don't do anything unless you get their legs. They'll just keep running._

"Moonlight Blast!" She says, arching Moonlight down. A wave of energy slices through several Monsters who've dodged the shots of the archers. One falls down, head severed from its body. It collapses into the mud. The others are sliced apart in the middle. Their legs fall limp as they use their arms to drag themselves across the battlefield. Arrows quickly take them out.

But the monsters keep coming. Spiked bodies now pour from the river in an endless wave, running over the trampled bodies of their comrades.

And they're learning, she notes. One opens its jaws wide, a jet of water spills out, felling one of the catapults.

"Earth Thorn Hurricane!" she shouts. The attack takes out more monsters that charge in on the weak part of their line. Armored soldiers cut down the survivors quickly with axes and short swords.

From within the city, a sharp whistle blasts three times.

"Evacuation underway!" She hears Brioget shout as she launches and reloads her cross bow in a blur of motion. "Keep them back!"

The constant stream of creatures continues running, dragging tidal waves out of the river with them. Catapults begin to alternate their launches. Oil fires catch more of the wave, but do not fell them nearly as quickly. Serenity shouts herself hoarse shooting Thorn Hurricanes and Moonlight Blasts into the fray.

Two more catapults go down. Their archers now shoot firey arrows blindly into the crowd of monsters. As one, three lines of combat soldiers take up arms with the monsters, not waiting for them to reach the archers. Swords and axes clash with fangs and claws. Serenity directs her attacks at the back of the wave, trying as best she can to break up the enemies.

Slowly their troops gain ground. Piles of dead monsters put a barrier between their soldiers and the advancing horde.

When the next wave of catapults launches, jets of water divert the oil bombs back at them, coating bare ground and buildings in the slick. The fire arrows only burn two fifths of the wave.

"Hold them." Brioget shouts, jumping from the chariot and pulling a curved blade from her belt. A few fire archers abandon their ruined catapults to clash with the beasts. Serenity spots a gap in the monsters ranks, a patch of smouldering ground, and jumps from her perch. She launches another Thorn Hurricane as she lands among them, cutting the wave of monsters back all the way to the river.

She spots a still burning arrow lodged in the ground and runs for it, grabbing the unburning end in hand.

"Here!" she says, catching the attention of Septimus' catapult.

A lone twack sounds as he launches the barrel behind the horde, into the river, oil spilling out into the rapids as more monsters rise from the depths.

She runs the the river's edge. Her sword slices five monsters as they charge her, and dips the flaming arrow into the churning rapids.

All along the river, creatures shriek, burning before they breach the surface, Smoke and flame tumble about in the water. She sees the spiked skulls retreat upstream.

But hundreds of monsters still pack closely together on the short, dispatching their catapult attacks with jets of water as they pile onto the line of soldiers.

She advances on the back of the horde, sword raised.

"_NO!" _the scream cuts across the loud hissing and slashing of battle and she sees the horde divert their attention to one point in the soldiers line. The shining helmets of the soldiers are running back from that point. Their line's been breached. She charges towards the gap in their ranks as more monsters pour towards the opening they now have to the city.

"Moonlight Blast!" She shouts, clearing out a line of monsters as she rushes to the fallen soldiers. One of them lifts his head.

"Back!" He coughs. Clutching a dark red stain on his ruined chain mail. "Stay back."

She's ready to ignore him, ready to cast a Healing Purge on he and the five others on the ground, when the five begin to convulse."

"_Back_" the soldier hisses. She freezes as she watches his body warp. Spikes tear through his armor from his head down his back. His hand looses it's grip on his sword as long claws grow from his fingers. Grey and brown spread from his wound, pulling his skin taught against his bones and his teeth stretch into long, curved fangs. He meets her eyes as yellow begins to bloom within his pupils.

"_Go!" _His voice breaks up into a screech, mushrooms consuming his eyes as his new body stumbles off the ground, pulling up the transformed bodies of the four other soldiers.

_They're people! _She gapes, fumbling her sword.

A jet of cold water pummels her back, sending her tumbling into the mud yards away as the horde of monsters continues their advance, rushing past the catapults and into the buildings as the archers and swordsmen fumble to take down those at the edges.

"Follow them!" Brioget shouts, jumping onto one of the horses as a few other soldiers hook up the chariots. The rest chase the monsters into the city on foot.

"Wait!" Serenity croaks, pushing herself off the ground. "Wait they're people! They're people"

"Why did you think the rain was so bad!" one of the soldiers hooking up a chariot shouts. "Come on, they'll disappear into these streets!"

She jumps up onto the chariot beside them. Eyes peeled for more of the monsters as they rush into the city. Her eyes spot a tall building off to their left. "Take me over there."

The soldier banks the chariot hard towards a side street, horse hooves clatter quickly down the street.

When they reach the tall tower she jumps from the moving chariot, jumping up onto a third story window sill and then leaping further onto the roof top. The soldier speeds away into the streets, chasing down the horde of monsters.

_People_. Her eyes dart around the streets, seeking movement.

Horses pound through the streets towards the back of the city – the rescue party ushering civilians away into the mountains. She focuses on the sounds of clashing swords. East, racing towards the evacuees.

She jumps from the rooftop onto another lower to the ground, racing along stone, tiling, and thatched rooftops as she follows the sounds of clashing monsters and soldiers.

A jet of water catches her eye as human screams reach her ears. She runs towards the commotion, leaning over the edge in time to see then monsters surrounding three convulsing soldiers.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts, jumping down into the circle of monsters, She slices Moonlight around the converging monsters as they shield their yellow eyes from the glowing blade. Their hisses become groans as fangs shrink and spikes break away from their spines. The ten people in soaked clothes collapse to the ground among the passed out soldiers.

She has time for one grin before a sound like a roar reaches her ears. She whips around and gasps.

A wall of water is rushing down the street, monsters surfing along the top. She runs, wave gaining on the backs of her sandals.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts, lighting up the entire tidal wave in bright gold light. Within the creatures shriek, then cough. The water collapses, gushing naturally into the sewers leaving passed out people in its wake.

She sways on her feet, lifting Moonlight again. _Just keep going_, she pushes herself, grip tightening on Moonlight as she races towards the sounds of more fighting.

"Over here!" Brioget shouts as she turns into an alley. The army Lieutenant is clashing swords with five of the monsters. One's head rolls to the ground as she beckons to Serenity. "Get them out of here!"

Behind Brioget are a family of four, backed against the wall of their home.

She raises Moonlight to try another Healing Purge and stumbles, feeling her power fading.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" She decides instead, the first attack she ever learned swirls around the four monsters, burning them, and putting space between them and the trapped civilians.

"Run with them!" Brioget shouts. "I've got these."

She's about to protest; Brioget will kill them, but spots the child cowering behind their father's leg. Hefting Moonlight, she points the family down the street. "Come on."

She runs with them, eyes on the tops of the buildings in case any of the Horde have gotten the high ground,

She gets them out onto another street, with soldiers all around guarding other groups of civilians, when something pops in the middle of the street.

A flood of water shoots from a breach in the sewer, monsters streaming out the top.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" She shouts, diverting them away from the crowds and wincing when soldiers shoot flaming cross bows at the falling creatures "I'm sorry."

"Go!" she shouts to the family as the remaining monsters gain their footing all over the street. Soldiers usher the family on as she says behind, sword drawn.

_One more_. She thinks, pulling her magic together.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" She says, slicing the sword towards the charging monsters. It hits three, causing them to trip into the street as their bodies return to human form.

But the other creatures are still running at her, trampling the people. She tries to keep them back with the blade, struggling with her dwindling power.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" She tries again, five more monsters go down though more still stream out of the sewer. She sees a flash as her uniform flickers. Another geyser of water gushes from under the ground, carrying a fresh wave with it.

She can't kill more people.

Her eyes fall on the recovering people – one a thin little boy. She grabs the back of his shirt, still plastered with water, throws him over her shoulder, and runs. The civilians and soldiers have all disappeared into the maze of streets and buildings. She stumbles over loose cobble stones, dodging Monsters that stumble, run, and even crawl onto her street. Water splashes under her feet.

She hears the shouts of soldiers ahead, urging civilians onto chariots and carts. Almost there.

Something pops under her feet, pitching her backwards. She rolls to keep the unconscious boy off the ground and raises Moonlight just in time to deflect a monster's claws.

Spittle lands on her face as it hisses at her, retreating into a circle with other monsters.

She pulls her legs under her, kneeling in the street, and lifts moonlight. _Just one more_.

"Moonlight Healin –"

The circle of monsters around her chokes, heads falling to the pavement in one powerful sweep of an axe.

"Come on!" A voice shouts overhead. Stern green eyes meet hers as a rider in gold armor swoops down to pluck the boy off her back, throwing him onto the horse in front of her. She whirls around, axe felling four more monsters and sending another stumbling back with a gut wound. "Get on!" A leather gloved hand clasps her own, hauling Serenity up behind the warrior on the horse.

Serenity wraps one hand around the rider's waist as she kicks the horse into a gallop, driving them away from the horde and dodging the geysers that shoot out of the sewers behind them.

The city passes in a blur as they catch up with the tail end of the evacuation. The last of the civilians are being loaded up onto a cart. "Any more?"

"None in five minutes." A soldier guarding the road reports. "85% of troops accounted for."

"Good enough." The rider infront of her barks. "Light it up!"

Serenity sees a chariot with the flying horses take to the sky, carrying an archer and several large barrels.

"No!" Serenity shouts.

"_Excuse me!"_

"There are soldiers left aren't there, and some injured people."

"Monsters by now." The rider turns to stare at her. "There's no saving everyone."

She thinks of all the people still recovering, everyone she saved. "That's not –"

"Who exactly do you think is in charge here?" the rider snaps at her. Serenity notices for the first time the sigil engraved on her armor: the elegant four of Jupiter's royal banners.

The rider whips around again, urging her horse into a trot. "Move out!"

Behind her, Serenity hears the splash of oil raining down on the buildings and closes her eyes as the roar of fire springs up after it.

The company moves quickly up the mountain road, away from the searing heat, and the shrieks echoing within it.

~_paxlunae_~

The great storm has set upon them hours later as they shelter a city's worth of civilians and soldiers in the complex network of caves that fill the Fjall mountains. The Jupers have settled deep in the cave, a few sentries keep watch on the mountainside for the horde. But this high up there's a relative amount of safety.

Serenity sits at the mouth of the cave, eyes on the bleak gray that rains down from the sky.

"Can't believe that was beginners luck." She jumps as Brioget claps her on the shoulder. "You saved our asses out there today, Princess Terra."

Serenity stares down at the cup of boiled water between her hands, trying to draw comfort from the heat. "So many still died."

"A lot less than they're used to." Brioget kneels down beside her. "Hey, buck up. This your was your first fight, yeah?"

_First where the youma were people_. Serenity nods.

"I heard you overtaxed yourself – look you can't save everyone…you did the best you could."

"Thank you."

"Lieutenant," the horseback rider – Commander as she's learned – addresses Brioget.

"Sir," Brioget salutes. Four fingers across her forehead.

"Could you radio up to Ganymede. Tell them this arm is moving 50 knots slower than predicted. We'll need to push the rescue off an hour."

"On it." Brioget nods, jogging back into the caves.

The Commander, now in a cotton shirt and simple trousers sits across from her at the mouth of the cave, looking out into the rain.

"The boy is awake," the commander says, still staring out into the rain. Her hand plays with the hunting knife clipped to her waist. "He says you saved him."

"I tried to save others." Serenity whispers, watching the Commander's stony face. There's no reading her emotions.

She's just given up on reading the commander, returning her gaze to the cup of water between her palms, when the Commander speaks.

"I didn't figure you for a fool."

Serenity jerks her head up. "Hey!"

"But I should have assumed the Guardian would want their own way." She turns her gaze towards Serenity, deep green eyes a bit angry. "You were an asset to Brioget early in the fight. Did you know we had half the city cleared by the time they broke your defenses."

"No."

"Normally we can save a third. Today was a victory. It would have been more of one. But you wasted your power on those already lost. Tell me. How many soldiers do you think fell because you didn't act to get the monsters out of their way."

"I didn't torch them," Serenity said.

"Which is why we won today." The commander snaps. "Or did my brother tell you nothing about the hordes?"

"Your brother?"

"There is no other way to stop them – not so many at once. Anyone still within those city walls would have been a monster in minutes. The creatures only need to bite them, get water into their mouths or any open wounds…and this rain would surely have turned them by now." The commander is shaking her head. Serenity notices for the first time the nose she shares with Prince Hermes, the high cheekbones and thick eyelashes.

_I'm actually the second child. Princess Frigga's my younger sister. She's happy to have nothing to do with government. My older sister is…_

"Queen Hippolyte," she starts to say.

But Hippolyte interrupts her. "I don't enjoy burning my own cities. But I prefer it far more to ceaseless waves of monsters chasing my rescue up the mountains." Her hand curls into a fist. "We'd have saved even more soldiers and civilians if you'd left the monsters for lost."

"I could save them."

"Not enough of them," Hippolyte says. "You're new to battle, are you not Terra?"

_No_, she wants to say, but holds her tongue. As long as she is Terra she'll still have to lie to them.

Hippolyte shakes her head. "If you want to help me save my people, you need to use your powers how they'll be most effective."

"I can still help you," Serenity says. "But I won't kill human beings – monster or not."

Hippolyte sighs. "Then what good are you to me?" She rises from the ground and turns back towards the depths of the cave. "Get some rest." Her voice echoes softly across the cavern. "We move south in six hours."

Serenity stares out at the rain, at the shadows of mountains, trees, and ruined buildings far below.

_I'm not a killer. _She thinks, clutching the water tighter in her hands. _I have to be stronger_.

~_À Suivre_~


	13. The Juper War

AN: I promise they're not all going to be this long (I am much more comfortable with 4,000 word chapters) but Hippolyte had a lot to say. Thanks to Convergence-Eternal for the moral support as I was writing this. And Kirby, this new "Last Time On Pax" feature is for you, as promised. ;)

Disclaimer: Not mine, only in my dreams. Moving on to what we're all here for…

Last Time On Pax: Serenity was thrown into the complexities of Jupiter's war with the Horde – monsters transformed by their own people thanks to a poisonous alien rain. She and Jupiter's Queen Hippolyte have clashed words over whether to kill the monsters, and the storm is chasing them North towards many stranded cities. What is a Sailor Senshi to do?

The Juper War

_Alvheim_

Bright pink heat lightning flashes overhead and Sailor Earth tries not to flinch.

Instead she keeps her eyes squinted through the tree branches, hand outstretched as she watches the constant flow of soldiers repelling down the tall tree trunks on sturdy ropes, grabbing two and sometimes three refugees about the waist, and then tugging the rope, signaling others high in the branches to haul them back up… and all this without saying a word.

Save for the beat of the horses' wings overhead and the quiet zip of rope chaffing on tree bark, the forest city of Alvheim is silent.

Serenity grips the thin trunk of the tree as a high wind whips past – one of the arms of Jupiter's giant storm will be over them within the hour. She looks out towards the buildings that grow out of the ground, Orange light is just beginning to peak through the trees – Hippolyte and Brioget's crew has set a fire around the river. If it's enough to hinder the horde traveling upstream to get to them, they might get away without difficulty…

A sharp note from a flute dashes her hopes. She trains her head towards the sound. A jet of water has shot above the light of the fire, propelling the warped bodies of the monsters up over the flames. _They're adapting to our defenses, _Serenity thinks as she jumps from tree to tree, ready to meet the monsters away from the lines of civilians they're evacuating.

_Here goes_. She spots the spiked skulls of the horde weaving through the trees.

"Earth Rose Monsoon" She shouts, bracing herself against a tree trunk as the attack explodes from her palm. The heavy rain of flower petals slams into the charging monsters, holding them back as they raise their arms to block the attack. They shriek as the petals burn their warped skin, many collapse under the force.

But, as she hoped, none die. She summons Moonlight, preparing for a Healing Purge.

A mighty crash heralds a slew of whistles from all the surrounding trees as water breaches the banks of the stream running around the city. She sees burning monsters crashing through the flames, and their shrieks as they clash with Hippolyte's team. The surviving horde race on, riding a tidal wave of river water over the city's buildings, crushing trees in their path, closing in on Serenity and the trapped refugees.

She drops to the ground, abandoning the first monsters she had stopped.

And screams.

The amethysts that decorate her twin buns pulse as the sound wave echoes through the trees. The horde riding the wave freezes, water dropping, formless, to the ground as they twitch under the paralyzing sound.

She feels the cool floodwater lapping at her sandals and, on a hunch, stabs her blade into it.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts. Power rushes through her into the sword. Bright golden light ripples through the water, and into every horde monster it touches.

Their spikes fall to the ground, their skin returns to its normal shades. The horde's mushroom eyes shrink as restored human eyes fall shut, hundreds of people collapsing into the still golden water.

She hears the stampede of hooves racing across the forest floor as she sinks to her knees, eyes blinking heavily.

"By Ra," Brioget's voice carries over the crowd. "Are they real?"

She turns when a horse's hooves come up beside her and see's Hippolyte regarding the restored people. "Right, hurry up!" she calls out. "Get them up to the carts." She reaches a hand down to Serenity, hauling her up onto the horse. "Stay alert! We've now got twice as much work."

All around, the civilians whisper excitedly, the soldiers tied to the rescue ropes grin.

"Are there more coming up the river?" Serenity murmurs, leaning against Hippolyte's back. That must have been hundreds of people.

"If there are more coming, they won't get past the oil fire before we're gone." The queen says, though her axe still hovers at the ready in one hand.

Serenity looks out at the orange glow through the still-standing trees. A wall of fire has grown to obscure the stream and the waterfall beyond. "No one died."

"Only luck to thank for that," Hippolyte says. "Don't think I've changed my mind. It won't always be this easy."

Serenity sighs as she watches soldiers drag the unconscious, healed civilians over their shoulders and even refugees pitching in to help them off the ground.

"But thank you," Hippolyte says quietly.

Serenity leans back in surprise, but cannot see Hippolyte's face from where she sits behind her.

~_paxlunae_~

"Right," Hippolyte says as she gathers the guardian and her officers together on the cave floor. The rapid drumming of rain against the ground filters through the dim caves. She sits on the cold cave floor and spreads out the map in her hand, noting the Guardian leaning forwards with interest. "Since Terra's clearly demonstrated an adeptness at healing these things,"

"People," the guardian whispers under her breath.

Hippolyte glares at her. Must the girl challenge her at every turn? She raises her voice to direct her soldiers' attention towards her. "I've decided to adapt our initial strategy."

She looks to at her closest advisor, a general who'd followed her own mother into battle. Trying not to sound like his old student, she looks at the greying general. "Birgir, you know these mountains. Tomorrow you'll escort Alvheim's people up here," Hippolyte says, tapping the map spread out on the cave floor. "The horde may've learned to swim upstream, but no river runs that high up." She trails her finger across the intricate map, pointing to a trail that cuts across the eastern half of the mountains. "Hermes is sending a crew down in three days. You're to wait with them while this arm of the storm passes."

"That will significantly delay us reaching Myrheim," Birgir frowns.

"Hence you'll take our flying herd. After the refugees have been rescued, take them and fly around the east side" she traces her finger along the sharp ink lines of the Fjall Mountains. "By air it should only take you two day."

As Birgir mulls this over she looks to her newest Lieutenant. "Brioget, your crew will join Terra and I on foot," she says, tapping the center of the Fjalls. "We'll travel straight through, cut our time down to four days. That will give us an extra day or two to heal however many horde we encounter."

"I thought they couldn't climb," Terra muses.

"True enough," Birgir says as his own lieutenants nod. "But this here isn't the first wave of rain to pass through. There's plenty of villages up there who couldn't evacuate – still more who wouldn't have known when the rain became infected."

"We'd initially planned to travel around." Hippolyte says "But given how fast this storm is moving the center of it would have hit Myrheim days ahead of us. Now we have a chance to get more people out."

"And after that?" Birgir questions her.

"Hand me a bit of charcoal," she says, accepting some Terra's gruff bodyguard. Septimus? Yes, that was it. "There isn't much more area here to evacuate and we'd probably fair better clearing the horde out of the lakes and rivers. But to make sure they don't move north…" She stretches to draw a thick black line across the plains that roll down from the northern foothills. "We'll take whatever oil Hermes sends down with the rescue and start a wildfire across here." She hovers her hand over the map. Yes, they'd definitely be able to cover that and an evacuation of Myrheim before the storm center overtook them. "I've asked Hermes to have one of the priestesses magic this oil so a fire will hold up against the rain." She waits for the circle of officers to nod. "Now, the fire would restrict their access to lands north of here."

"I can heal the ones that breach the fire," Terra points out.

Hippolyte chuckles. "Right, I'll use the most powerful magic in the nine worlds to stand beyond a wildfire indefinitely on the off chance that the horde chose to cross that _particular _river."

Serenity scowls at her as some of the gathered officers laugh. "I didn't mean indefinitely. Just as you're setting it. Besides, you've noticed them turning back once they see I've healed the others. It would deter more from traveling that route.

"Or they disburse because we've evacuated their prey," Hippolyte counters. But the guardian does have a point. She pulls a parchment roll out of her pocket and jots a note down on the paper. "Once we've set that, we'll commence evacuating Myrheim."

"What about this one." Terra leans over the map at taps another nearby city.

"Sapphes Isle," Hippolyte informs her. "And we'll have to leave it be."

"Why," Terra frowns.

She sees all her officers – mostly older – looking to her with the same question and tries to block out the persistent need to prove her skills.

"It's surrounded by water, Lady Terra," Brioget points out for her. "The pathogen got into the lakes first. The horde draws their reinforcements from the many among them that lurk under those waters."

"So even it we can get to Sapphes by air," she tells the Guardian, "The Isle is very likely already overrun. We've not had a communication from any islands within 10 miles of here since the first days of this invasion.

_What do you mean they've vanished? _She'd yelled at Birgir long before poisoned rain had driven them from the Palace. _300 soldiers cannot just disappear_.

_As I said, _he'd informed her, his face beneath his thick beard paler than she'd ever seen it _their boat capsized midway to the distress signal…it appears all have drowned._

She looks over at the Guardian, biting her lip as she stares at Sapphes' dot on the map and thinks she understands exactly what Terra wants to say. "You do not have unlimited power, Guardian."

"No, but I'm stronger with each battle I face."

"Even so," Hippolyte matches those fiery amber eyes with her own "On such a big world, we understand better than most the word 'triage.' We have a limited capacity to help, and we must focus on those we know we can save."

She meets the eyes of each of her officers as they nod, and rolls up the parchment map. "Now the rain will let up in five hours. Birgir, have your people go around and make sure the civilians will be ready to move."

~_paxlunae_~

When her mother led armies into battle, she'd dressed in full royal regalia. It made for bad fighting, she'd advised Hippolyte, but she'd been atrocious at fighting anyway. The regal armor was more important. _We're a symbol of this world's greatness – our armies look to us for strength. We do far more good from high above a battle than in the thick of the fighting_.

Hippolyte thinks of this as she dawns plain leather and steel armor – lined with wool to protect against the mountain cold. She'd shirked the splendor of the golden, royal regalia at the very beginning of this war (now lost somewhere in ruined Themiscyra). What good was a royal symbol when obscured by mud and rain? It was not as if the horde trembled before her. They just kept coming.

But her hands do rest a few moments on the royal girdle when she lifts it from her pack. It is the only symbolic piece she'd taken; passed down her line since the days her mother's people ruled the oceans. She secures it around her waist, hoping its long history will mask how new she still is to this planet's people.

In her mother's first years as Queen, she'd reined in a few small rebellions on the outer moons – directing most safely from the high towers of Themiscyra's palace.

_You can't dwell on it_, she shakes her head. _A capital city is no more or less important than any other._

"My queen," Lieutenant Brioget draws her from her musings. She guides Hippolyte's horse with her. "We're ready to move out."

She takes the reins from Brioget and swings into the saddle, checking that her axe is settled in its holster.

The peaks of the Fjall Mountains are just appearing as the arm of clouds moves beyond them. She looks south at the shadow of the next arm of rain, likely to hit them this afternoon. And at the dark curtain of rain that spans all the land to the south, Themiscyra and its people trapped deep within it.

_There's no saving it_, she directs the horse out of the cave and towards the head of the army. _Better to fight the battles I can still win_.

~_paxlunae_~

_The Fjall Mountains_

For someone who has never lived in the mountains, the Guardian is a surprisingly adept rider. She directs her horse easily along the narrow paths and always keeps to Hippolyte's left, eyes trained on the sky.

And shivering, she notes in her scant Sailor uniform.

"I thought your magic was meant to keep you warm?" Hippolyte says.

Ridiculous blond pigtails whip from side to side as Sailor Earth looks towards her. "To a point, I believe it does but," she gestures to her bare knees, now slightly blue, "it is quite cold."

It's not yet winter in these mountains and they haven't even traveled up to the snow line yet. "Well you might as well drop that transformation if you're cold."

Sailor Earth shakes her head, arms crossed. "Then I won't be ready if any of the horde appear."

"You don't trust over 100 of my finest warriors to dispatch a few monsters themselves."  
"No, you'll kill them – I thought we were traveling this way so I could heal as many as we found."

She really wishes the Guardian would budge on this - battles would go much quicker - but her moral compass is unshakable. "I think I can manage not to kill them in the brief moment's it's going to take you to transform." She curls her hand around her favored axe and gives it a swing for show. "But if you take to long and they're going to turn me I'm not waiting for you."

Sailor Earth sighs. "Thanks," and Hippolyte has to shield her eyes as bright gold light flares up around the Guardian, fading to show Terra in plain leather tunic and trousers, only a light coat covering both.

"Here," Hippolyte says as she unclips her own cloak, tossing it to Terra. "You'll still freeze in that. I thought Earth had a fair bit of snow?"

"I wouldn't know," She shrugs as she wraps the cloak around her, adjusting it so she can easily draw her sword. "I've never the capital, and it's mild year round there."

She draws back a bit startled. Surely the Usurper, paranoid as he was rumored to be, had not kept his guardian so isolated. "You've never seen snow?"

Terra shakes her head, "No, why what's so special about it?"

Hippolyte sees the clouds that have been closing in behind them since morning. "You'll see."

An hour later she does, one eye on Terra when the first flake falls on her hand. The Guardian jumps, eyes wide, as she watches the delicate flake melt on her hand. And her face slowly transforms into a grin as she takes in the snow softly drifting from the sky.

She can't help the smile that brightens her own face. "Keep it away from your face," she reminds Terra, tying a kerchief over her own mouth. "This stuff will turn you just like rain if it gets in your mouth."

"Sorry!" Terra says, rushing to do the same.

Even with the cloth covering her face, Hippolyte can still how widely the Guardian grins; her eyes are crinkled with delight. Terra laughs, reaching out her bare hands to catch more flakes as they fall.

She feels the perpetual heavy feeling in her chest lighten.

Perhaps the Guardian's staunch optimism won't be so irritating after all.

~_paxlunae_~

By dusk they've encountered no horde on their journey up into the Fjalls. But the snow has built into a blizzard. Heavy winds chill their bones and bite their skin. She squints her eyes as she spots the entrance to one of the many caves just off the path. Dismounting her horse, she guides the company towards it, turning to make sure they can all see her through the storm.

"Watch it!" Terra screams beside her. She hears the Guardian land heavily in the snow, sword coming up to clash with something behind Hippolyte. She hears the shriek of the monster just in time to dodge the jet of freezing water directed towards her head.

Terra goes toe-to-toe with the creature, nimble form shifting through block after block as she deflects its claws and dodges the shots of water from its mouth.

Hippolyte wrenches her axe from her belt, stepping up beside Terra. "Go!" She says as the monster's claws clash with her blade.

She hears Terra shout and sees the golden light reflected against the monster's shining grey and brown flesh.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" Sailor Earth shouts. Golden magic rushes past Hippolyte, She startles at the warmth of it as it engulfs the monster, and gasps as the spikes, fangs, and claws fall way. The creature falls to its knees in the snow, a wispy white beard growing from his chin as his complexion returns to the pale color of the mountain people.

She kneels beside the old man. "Someone grab a blanket," and lifts him up, slinging his arm over her taller shoulders. Terra, again in her normal clothes, is already supporting his other side.

"Have I –" the old man's teeth chatter – "have I killed them?"

She meets Terra's eyes over his head. "We're going to find out," Terra says. "We'll help you find them, I promise."

_We can't promise_, she thinks. _What good will it do_? But now's not the time to berate Terra's idealism. She tightens her grip around the old man's waist as they carry him to shelter.

~_paxlunae_~

When the rest of her company has lain down to rest for the night she is still restless. The storm still blusters outside, cold as ever, making her wish for the Themiscyra's refreshing ocean breeze. The snow up here smells nothing like the sea. It just smells _freezing_ she decides as the cold, wet air makes her sneeze.

Unable to sleep, she wanders towards the mouth of the cave. She favors the chaos of the storm over the dark stone walls.

Someone is already there. She sees Terra's bun-hair style in the dim light of a lantern. The Guardian leans against the stone, just beyond the reach of the snow.

She's about to go up to her, as good a time as any to talk about things they can't _promise_ to civilians, when another voice calls Terra's name. She ducks behind one of the large stalagmites protruding from the floor.

"Isn't it a bit risky to be so near the storm, My Lady," The gruff voice, _Septimus_, she thinks.

"As long as I don't breathe it in, no." Terra sighs. "I just wanted a little time to think is all."

"I can see why – this here war is nothing we have on Earth." _He's either one of The King's men or he's forgotten quite a bit. _Hippolyte thinks, resisting the urge to scoff. Septimus is still talking. "And you weren't even a fan of sword work before you suffered through the Fog. I've seen some fine fighting from you though, Lady Terra. I'm impressed."

"Um…thank you," the guardian sighs. "I suppose it's just instincts…from the guardian magic, I mean."

"Sure, sure."

"Is that stuff they gave you to help with the gravity still turning you blue?" Terra asks.

"No, ha. Now I'm blue from this cold." Septimus chuckles. "Tis a lot to adjust to, this planet. They do things so strangely."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, all my years following your father – not that we saw much fighting, mind – but he was never out in the thick of battle where he risked getting killed along with the rest." When he pauses, she nearly forgets to remain in hiding, leaning around the stalagmite to hear more of what he says. "And did you know – the old King and Queen are still alive. They _abdicated_. Now that, I don't understand. How long they live on this world and they pass the throne on to barely more than children?"

"I thought she'd been ruling for three years."

"Well yes," Septimus agrees. "But I heard she's only 21. Now, on Earth we'd give your brother a grand ball for his 18th birthday, we might introduce him to some suitable partners, but to give him the throne." Septimus snorts. "It's quite clear she doesn't know how to act if she's running around on the front lines of a war."

"You're wrong." Terra surprises her with how powerfully that defense is. She thought Terra was as irritated by her pragmatism as she was by the Guardian's naivety. "Perhaps their customs are different, but Hippolyte is a good Queen."

"You've known her mere days."

"And I can see it. Look, Augusto will never…acknowledge the struggles his soldiers will toil through for him. He'd never leave the comfort of the capital to save villages and cities that meant little to him. Hippolyte… she's trying to help. And her soldiers they really listen to her. They fight harder. Brioget has such respect for her…and even old Birgir. Can you say you'd respect Augusto as much when he rules the Earth."

"That's quite an assumption to make of your brother, My Lady."

"It's not like he's here," the remark makes Hippolyte smile. "well can you?"

Septimus sighs. "I suppose I'd be hesitant. But that aside, what does it say about a Queen who risks her own life for such a…well it's a small war by this planet's standards."

"Their storm's the size of our whole world." Terra says. "And I don't think she's foolish at all. I think she's brave, and she doesn't want anybody else making the hard calls for her. I can't see Augusto caring." Then she pauses. "Apologizes if I am hard on my brother, I um, only worry for him."

"Don't we all," Septimus armor clinks as he stands. "I suppose there are different values on every world, thank you for your thoughts, My Lady."

Hippolyte pulls closer to the wall of the cave as he passes, eyes on the Guardian as she continues to stare out into the snow.

_Perhaps I can berate her about her impossible promises tomorrow._

~_paxlunae_~

She does, in fact get the chance. They reach the old man – Sigurd's – village shortly after setting off the next day. The whole of the village is marred by ice, frozen in deep lines in the snow. They're accompanied by the clawed footprints of the horde.

The buildings are coated in ice as well – and rings of it have frozen to windows broken open by jets of water. She dispatches most of the soldiers to search the buildings, fields, and the farmlands, before setting off with the Guardian herself to the building the old man had described as his family home.

"_Two granddaughters living with me and my son-in-law, and my niece and her family next door as well." _She already has a bad feeling when the claw marks on the front door come into view. She pushes it aside and steps into the dark room.

"Sailor Earth Power" golden light illuminates the small house. She takes in the turned over chair, the scratch marks on the walls. The burnt out husk of what might have been a stove. The char marks cover that entire wall.

"Over there," Terra whispers, pointing towards one of the doors off of this main room. A figure is slumped against the open door.

She can see before she reaches it that it is a young man, well preserved in this cold weather. His lips are purple and his skin blue, she kneels beside him, lifting his stiff hand with difficulty. There's berry juice frozen to his fingers.

"Is that his son?" Terra whispers.

"Damnit." Hippolyte mutters.

"At least his granddaughters aren't here."

"Probably turned as he was," she counters. "Come on, we might make the next town today if we hurry."

She shouldn't have hoped for anything more. _At least I can tell Sigurd he didn't kill them_, she thinks.

"I'm sorry," Terra startles her out of her musings. "I know I shouldn't have promised him."

"But you did,"

"Well there wasn't really anything else to say," Terra sighs. "I just wanted him to have hope. For a little while."

_She doesn't want anyone else making the hard choices for her._ Hippolyte sighs. "No, you're right. People…people need hope." She looks up at the sky, already threatening a new round of snow. "Let me tell him, about his son. You can remind him we could still find his granddaughters."

~_paxlunae_~

The latest arm of the storm is thicker than any previous one. She fears Birgir's half of the army will have been waylaid by it. It's snowed constantly for the past two days. Only the wind keeps it from building up too high for them to pass.

She's leading a scouting party into the burnt farmlands near the latest village when the frantic notes of a flute cut through the freezing air.

_The eastern pass_ she thinks as she kicks her horse into a gallop, riding ahead of her team towards the sound. She steers them down sloping fields and through worn trails, down towards the pass that leads out of the village and across a stream. The sound of clashing weapons reaches her as she approaches. _And they're right near a cliff_.

As she rounds a bend onto the narrow path and the bridge across the stream, blond hair catches her eyes. Terra (untransformed) and her guard, are crossing blades with seven of the monsters, two of her scout team are already writhing on the ground, nearly transformed into monsters themselves. The rest stand back near the side of the mountain, weapons drawn.

"You two, cover our own." She directs two of the soldiers with her. "And the four of you to the right." She herself dismounts her horse, axe in one hand and gladius in the other, coming to Terra's side. Her axe deflects the arm spikes of one monster and the claws of another as she draws their attention from Terra's blade to hers. The guardian watches her back as she takes over the fight.

"Earth Power Make-Up!" She sees the golden flash. And then. "Moonlight Healing Purge." The rush of warm energy engulfs five of the seven monsters, transforming them instantly back. She moves to fight the remainder as Sailor Earth casts the spell again.

Seven villagers collapse on the frozen, mountain path along side her two restored soldiers. She turns to look at the Guardian and grins. "Glad I heard the alert then."

"I was handling it," Terra retorts, a grin on her own face.

~_paxlunae_~

The high winds force them to make camp early that night, and they hunker down behind naturally made snowdrifts and rocks, pitching tarps and lighting bonfires out of the wind's reach.

She's already checked on Septimus, and the Earth soldier, though injured, is only tired. She spots Terra huddled up by a fire polishing her sword.

The image of the guardian holding her own against four monsters has stayed with her all day. _Thought her King said she couldn't use a sword._ She hefts her own axe as she approaches.

"Guardian," Terra turns to look at her. "You fight well for a beginner."

"I suppose so," she says, eyes on the axe Hippolyte tosses casually between her hands.

"I care to find out how well," her eyes find Brioget who smirks over a flask of warm mead. "If you'll judge."

"Oh I'm hardly impartial." Brioget grins. "My money's on the blond."

"I'll judge," says one of the civilians they'd rescued that day. She bows in her borrowed cloak to Hippolyte. "Your Majesty."

"Thank you," she turns back to Terra, who's still looking at them all a bit startled. "Come on, Terra. This is war." She lifts the axe. "Its dead boring sitting here thinking too much about it."

"Here, here!" many of the soldiers in her company shout as they gather round. Terra slowly rises from the ground. She unclips her cloak and sheds her coat, rolling up the sleeves of her shirt.

They face off in the middle of the tight ring of spectators, some passing coins, others passing flasks. The guardian's blade glows against the red light from the fire.

"Combatants ready?" The civilian woman asks, accepting a flute from a nearby soldier.

She and the guardian bow to each other, blades at the ready.

The flute's barely sounded before she launches forwards, eager to earn the first strike. Terra's sword meets her axe halfway through her lunge, deflecting it as the guardian steps closer and closer, completing the swing by arcing it down towards Hippolyte's middle. The Queen twists away.

The guardian's amber eyes are delightfully bright and determined as she follows through with another blow. Hippolyte brings the other side of the axe up, making use of it's short, double sided blade in these close confines. She goes back and forth with Terra, both spinning and dodging just before a real blow can land. She sees sweat on the Guardian's brow.

"Tired?" she taunts.

"Hardly," Terra pants, narrowly deflecting a swing from her axe.

In the cheering circle of her soldiers she grins as she gains and upper hand, Terra's sword coming up to greet hers a hair slower with every parry. Terra moves away to gain her bearings, still breathing hard. Hippolyte doesn't give her the chance to catch her breath. She runs forward, axe raised. Terra lifts her own sword to block.

And ducks.

Hippolyte's blade meets empty air as she a foot hooks around her ankles, sending her crashing to the frozen ground. As the air leaves her lungs another foot comes down across her wrist, keeping her weapon on the ground, and a sword point is leveled at her nose.

"Yield," Hippolyte wheezes, trying to grin as all around her soldiers whoop and jeer. _Bested by an Earthling_ some are saying. But many more are complimenting the Guardian. _Bested the Queen who beat a Martian. _

The Guardian lifts her foot and her sword and extends a hand to Hippolyte, who accepts it ruefully. Terra's face is flushed, her teeth flash as she grins. "That was rough,"

"You think so," she pants as she clips her axe back into her belt. "Some beginners luck there – nice feign."

Terra's pigtails swing as she ducks her head. Is she bashful? "So did you really beat a Martian?"

"Oh only an average one – a general." She sees Brioget collecting coins from quite a few of her soldiers. "I learned to use the axe during a summer there."

"Really," Terra's eyes brighten "I'd love to learn."

"After this," Hippolyte looks up at the dark sky, haunting their revelry with poisoned clouds.

"Promise?"

"Ah – yeah." She grins at the Guardian. "Promise."

~_paxlunae_~

The next day their joy is near forgotten as they plod through snow that is thickening quickly. The horses' hooves tread carefully over hidden ice.

She can just barely make out the pass that will lead out of the mountains, down into the plains around Myrheim, when another frantic note from a flute sounds behind her.

"Avalanche!" someone shouts just before she hears the telltale groan of tons of snow falling away from stone. Her head whips up in time to see the heavy tidal wave of white racing towards them.

"Earth Power Make-Up!" She hears Terra shout. Immediately she understands, turning to the guardian with her heart in her throat.

"Close ranks!" She orders, eyes back on the avalanche as it gets closer and closer.

Terra waits. Her soldiers urge the horses and civilians into a tight group. Finally, when the snow is slipping out from under her horse's hooves and the beasts are thrashing against their reins, Terra raises her gloved hands. "Earth Rose Monsoon." Red rose petals erupt from her hands, concussive force along with them, and she spans her hands wide, sending the attack barreling into the oncoming snow, breaking the wave. It rushes around their tight group, the flood of white dragging more snow along with it. She sees the spiked skulls rising from the mess before Terra does.

Her soldiers see them two. Several charge forwards on their horses to greet the horde with their blades. They all fight, nearly forty of the monsters have risen to greet her army by the time the avalanche has passed. Terra plunges Moonlight into the remaining snow. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" the sword, her crescent mark, and all the visible snow glow bright gold as forty of the horde are healed back into forty tired people.

"Sir!" she hears one of her soldiers shout, and the thud of boots landing in the snow. The old man Sigurd is running towards two of the smallest figures in the snow, their orange hair standing out from the others. He runs to embrace them in the snow.

"His granddaughters," Sailor Earth whispers beside her. She sees the flash as the Guardian's transformation drops. Terra slumping forwards in the saddle.

"All right?" she asks, guiding her horse up to take Terra's reigns.

"Tired." Terra sighs. "I'm sorry, I should be able to last longer."

"No, you just stopped an avalanche." Hippolyte laughs at her. "Take a break. Just…don't fall out of the saddle."

"Trying not to," Terra yawns. "How much further?"

"We'll make it to the plains tomorrow," Hippolyte promises. "And Myrheim as well."

In fact, they ride until well after dark, the central mountain pass opening up into a road that sloped down through the foothills and straight to the city of Myrheim. She was guiding them down to a sheltered part of the hills, with far less snow than the mountains, when she hears a boom that deafens her.

An orange and red plume billows up over the walls of Myrheim. entrapping buildings within it. She sees stray sparks trailing up into the already clouding sky.

"What's happening?" Terra asks, blinking awake in the saddle beside hers.

"Stay with the civilians!" She snaps, beckoning to some of her soldiers with her wrist. "First and second squads with me." She gallops towards the fire, gritting her teeth, eyes squinting as they get closer and closer to the heat.

_We're too late_.

_Myrheim_

It is hours pacing the campsite, urging villagers and soldiers alike to sleep, though few can, before Hippolyte returns. Serenity, transformed into Sailor Earth, rushes forwards, the cold air biting her bare legs and arms.

"Hippolyte!" She cries, noticing how the Queen is slumped over her horse, dark hair hanging free of its usual tight knot. Brioget has tied Hippolyte's reins to the back of her own saddle.

"She's fine," Brioget assures her. "Reckless, but fine."

"Opinion's been noted, Lieutenant." Hippolyte says coolly. Serenity watches as she slowly rises from her horse and sees the reason she could not guide it herself. Her arms encircle two toddlers, both badly burnt, and behind her a shrouded body is tied across the saddle.

She sees other people, mostly alive, slumped over the other returning horses, many soldiers walking beside them to make more room. "The horde –"

"No," Hippolyte curses. "The city council. They had growing numbers of Horde terrorizing the streets, elected to blow themselves up rather than be turned into more. She hands the two children down to Serenity. "We couldn't save anymore."

"Whole city center was engulfed in flame." Brioget says. "These're the ones who fled, and weren't turned into horde themselves." She nods to Hippolyte "This one nearly killed herself dragging a body out of a building."

"It's not as if toddlers understand nec –" a hacking cough wracks Hippolyte's tall frame. "Necessity," she wheezes. "They wouldn't leave her."

Serenity looks at the shrouded body again, _the children's mother_. She regards Hippolyte with curious eyes. It's so unlike her.

"I hate when children cry." She coughs again, accepting a flask from the soldiers. "Any news from Birgir?"

"Not yet," Serenity answers.

"Then let's rest for now." The queen says, leaning on her horse. "Think about cutting off the ways North later."

"Here, here," Brioget swallows a cough of her own. "rather not deal with anymore fire just yet."

"Stand all together." Serenity says. Hippolyte shoots an exhausted glare at her. "Please just do it."

When all the rescued citizens and the burnt soldiers are crowded together she raises her sword. "Moonlight Healing Purge," relieved when the golden light stretches out far enough to reach all of them. She's slowly learning how to spread out it's light without the aid of water or snow.

Hippolyte is not the only one to take a deep gasp of air as the magic hits them, smoke suddenly banished from her lungs. "Thank you," she smiles thinly at Serenity, the magic doing nothing for her exhaustion.

"Come on, we all need rest." Serenity urges, "Before it's dawn."

~_paxlunae_~

_She stands with her hands propped up on her hips, one holding her favored instrument. "Proximity." She commands, turning as the mirror before her – a commission from Neptune – displays the glowing red comet. _

"_Contact in two minutes." The voice comes through from her reconnaissance team. "Guardian"_

"_Exactly – guardian." She grins. "Arachnee you can't be questioning my prowess."_

"_Not at all Lady!" The clipped voice of her closest friend retorts. "Just a bit…nervous."_

"_Why?"  
"It's 3.8 times bigger than we are..."_

"_And I'm as powerful as the whole damn star now." She reminds her and every other nervous watcher in the war room. "Sailor Sol's nothing to scoff at."_

"_Even so."_

"_Look, our barrier at the asteroid belt failed, but this will have much more raw power," she says as she taps her earring. Goggles come up to shield her eyes and stats begin to stream across the lenses. She steps away from the mirror and towards the great, pale tree that grows straight through the floor. Her eyes dart up to the sky where the red light of the incoming comet is growing larger. "And we'd all rather avoid the explosion if it hits Sol. _

"_Or if it hits us."_

"_You have so little faith in me now, I can't imagine what you thought when I was fighting the titans with bubbles."_

"_It's just…you're using our planet, Thea…"_

"_Not the planet," she reminds her friend gently. "I'm using me." The red light of the comet now stretches across the horizon, the great rock looming closer and closer, and the sun is just beginning to crest in the east. "Showtime." She whispers, fingers curling into the knotted bark of the tree. "Here we go – Aegis!" She shouts, blue symbol glowing on her forehead as power rushes from the tree, through her, and back out into the core of the planet, into the root network that connects every tree on their world. As the silver leaves of this ancient creature arch up towards the sky she feels the millions of others across the planet's surface to the same, a great and powerful shield blossoming between them. The ice colored shield balloons up, over Olympus, and across vast forest landscape, touching the horizons, and then lifting up, above the city, the clouds, up over the atmosphere, until it solidifies miles above the atmosphere. The readings in her goggles say exactly what she can feel through the central tree. They're ready._

"_Brace yourselves." She grins at those brave enough to join her. Her eyes glow the same blue as her forehead, as the brooch on her chest, as the power that floods through the tree and her gloved fingers. "Sol!" She shouts as the comet crashes with a jarring crack into the shield. "Aqua Rhapsody!" Her favored instrument, a lyre, floats up at the perfect level for her free hand to comb across the strings. The sound reverberates through the war room, into the trees roots and up into the shield in a striking melody. The shield ripples in time with the tune, bright energy clashing with the comet's red glow, consuming it, dousing it, and finally beating it back, sending the object hurtling out back into space, drained of all it's negative power._

"Get up," Hippolyte's voice snaps her out of the dream of the ancient Guardian. "Birgir's in."

Serenity blinks sleep from her eyes noting that though they settled down close to dawn, the sun has not fully risen. _This can't be good_.

~_paxlunae_~

The horde has come straight from the lake around Sapphes, and down from the mountains, and many more out of the river.

_Neither of us encountered many on the journey_, Birgir had guessed, _because the whole lot of them intended to meet us here_.

Hermes picked up their energy signatures far above them on Ganymede, but Hippolyte had refused to light up the plains with so many there.

_We have the Guardian_, she'd said to her soldiers when the message had arrived with Birgir. _And we just lost a city. Let's at least make the effort of a rescue_.

It's a dangerous rescue. They're outnumbered three to one. She tightens her grip on moonlight as, from the lone Horse she's flown high above the plains she sees Hippolyte and Brioget's company ride out into the middle of the open fields, then set the horses free, running back towards their camp. The small army huddles together, shoulder-to-shoulder, with only short swords and small shields – and one axe. No flaming arrows today, no oil to deflect attacks.

She hopes Hippolyte's growing confidence in her is not misplaced.

"Here they come." She hears Birgir say from the magicked cork in her ear. Her eyes see the hundreds of spiked heads encircling the army, gushing out from the surrounding river, rocks, and tall grass on a growing tidal wave. Hippolyte raises her shield along with the entire huddle of soldiers.

"Wait." Hippolyte cautions her. She can hear the sound of rushing water as, high above, she watches the monsters close in.

"I'm trying to." She mutters, biting her lip as monster after monster piles up on Hippolyte and her people, clustering around them in a close ring. Hundreds shriek at the soldiers. She can hear Hippolyte's heavy breath as she fights dozens at once. More and more of the monsters gush from all around, and she sees a few of the soldiers fall, writhing on the ground, new lines of soldiers stepping forward from the middle to replace them. She waits, until her lip bleeds, until at last no other monsters are left to pile onto the army.

_Now_! She thinks even before she hears Hippolyte's desperate voice gasp the order from far below.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts, weapon leveled towards the ground, engulfing every monster who has piled in so close together. She sees them all collapse amid the golden light, and Hippolyte beaming up at her. They trade grins.

"Did you get all of them?" the Queen asks.

"Every last one," she promises "You got them close enough."

"Thank Ra," Hippolyte chuckles. "All right, no time to waste. Let's get them undercover." Serenity looks up at the sky. Sure enough, the newest arm of rain and snow is closing in on them. She guides her horse towards the ground as the first clap of thunder echoes overhead.

~_paxlunae_~

The rain and snow pound heavily into the fields beyond their shelter – another of the Fjalls' many vast caves – but under dark shelter of the rock revelry is afoot.

She's danced her way through nearly fifty rescued people and several soldiers – even Brioget who stepped on her toes – before the exhaustion of the day settles in.

She'd healed, once the civilians were all properly counted, nearly five hundred people. Some of them had been horde since the first days of this war. She slumps down in her familiar place at the mouth of the cave, watching the rain.

"I used to find it so peaceful." Hippolyte says as she walks up beside Serenity. "Before it turned us into monsters, I mean."

Serenity nods, watching Hippolyte sink down across from her, stretching out her feet until they bump against Serenity's. She runs a hand through her frazzled black hair, still askew after this morning's battle. "Themiscyra was rainy?"

"Quite," Hippolyte sighs "It was a frequent stopping point for storms, it's where the traditions of the Storm and Light people started."

"What?"

"Oh," Hippolyte chuckles. "I forget we haven't had proper time to explain things to you." She looks out into the rain. "Jupiter is mostly islands, you know. This is the only major landmass we have." Her eyes are distant as she talks. "Now the Queen – sorry – my mother's people lived on many of the islands. We began calling them Light people some millennia ago, because they could sail wherever fair weather took them and only encounter a storm if the adventure of it struck them."

"And the storm people?" she asks.

"Were of land," Hippolyte continues. "And they'd no choice whether to challenge a storm or not. They faced the weather no matter what, and a rugged and hardy people grew out of it.

"After the royal family combined the two" Hippolyte says, drawing her hands together, "They wanted to keep the names of both cultures alive. So the custom now, wherever you live, is that if you're born on a sunny day," she gestures to herself. "You get a name from the Light people."

"And on a stormy day, the storm people."

"Precisely." Hippolyte closes her eyes and leans back against the cave wall. "Hermes and I were both born on sunny days, those are meant to be carefree flighty children." Serenity can't help her snort. Hippolyte smiles. "And Frigga was born under the worst storm to hit Themiscyra in decades – before the spot returned of course. She's supposed to be a powerful warrior, able to weather any struggle."

"Is she?" Serenity asks.

"Oh yes, but she wasn't the first born – I was." She smirks. "And she's happy enough not to challenge me for the throne. Well," Hippolyte sighs. "Not that there is one anymore."

"A capital city doesn't make or break a kingdom." She says gently.

"No, but it stings," she notices for the first time the sadness on Hippolyte's face. "It was my home."

Serenity thinks of the burnt palace she never lived in, the many relatives buried beneath it, "I understand."

"And we'll just keep losing more homes." Hippolyte says, something clearly weighing on her now that the high of victory is waning. "The rain won't stop."

"Won't the storm…dissipate."

Hippolyte snorts. "The Great Red Spot has existed since this planet formed" She tells the Guardian. "It will just keep moving across the surface, turning more people whom we can't evacuate from its path." Her hand curls into a fist. "I worry what will happen now that we've cleared so many people out. It will stall for a while; passing the mountains is a mean feat. But…" She turns a sad gaze out at the storm. "It will always keep coming."

Serenity wonders if they're going about this wrong. "Can't we heal the storm."

"When you have trouble just healing a few hundred." Hippolyte shakes her head. "I won't be the Queen that kills the Guardian."

"I have more power." Serenity retorts. "I just can't access it yet – but I think I know how I can."

"Oh."

"Jupiter – the heart of the planet, I mean – has power I could tap into. I've only tapped into Earth's now, I'm not yet Sailor Sol." She clutches the Golden Crystal's locket tightly "But if I had – I had a dream last night." She hurries to keep talking at Hippolyte's startled look. "A past guardian amplified her power by tapping into a planet from a central location there was a tree – in a war room – that connected her with the rest of the planet." Her mind races as she concocts the plan. "Like on Earth we have the Cloister of the Guardian in Elysium with a great golden column."

"Or the Eerie," Hippolyte whispers, her eyebrows drawn together in a thoughtful frown. "It has a crystal – hollow bright pink one, draws all the lightning in the area to it. The order of Ra says it's the connection the Jupiter's magic."

"Exactly like that!" Serenity claps her hands. "I could use that to draw strength from Jupiter – I could cleanse the entire poison from the rain and the rivers and heal the entire horde."

"If we can get to it." Hippolyte gets up from the floor. "Come on, we'll need to plan. I need the officers."

"Why?" Serenity asks as she hurries after her.

"Because the Eerie is at the top of the royal Palace, in Themiscyra." Hippolyte says "In the middle of this damn storm."

"How many horde are there?" She persists,

Hippolyte sighs. "At last count? All of them"

~_À Suivre_~


	14. The Battle of Themiscyra

AN: Happy 4th of July! The Holiday delayed the posting of this a bit, but enjoy! And look out for the next chapter, Suspect, in a week or so.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Last Time On Pax: Serenity and Queen Hippolyte of Jupiter are on friendlier terms now that they've worked together to save the people of the Fjall Mountains from becoming monsters of the Horde. But unless they can rid the Great Red Spot of the poison, more Horde will keep being created. So Hippolyte must get Serenity back to the ruined capital city – Themiscyra – where she hopes to access Jupiter's vast reserves of power to cleanse the storm once and for all.

The Battle of Themiscyra

Sailor Earth rises up in her saddle and cranes her neck to see over the flames. To the north, the army continues it's march away from the imposing storm, shepherding hundreds of healed civilians along with them.

"Terra!" Hippolyte's voice calls over the roar of the flame. The Queen's horse – alongside six other riders shuffles from foot to foot a couple hundred yards away. Her own horse whinnies, shaking its head side to side as the oil fire consumes more of the plains.

"It's okay," she whispers to the animal, directing towards Hippolyte. "I hope they'll be okay." She urges her horse into a gallop as it passes Brioget, Septimus, and four volunteers to match Hippolyte's pace. And as the army continues north of the flame barrier – safe from the Horde – her party rides back up into the foothills, into the Fjall mountains, towards the dark wall of rain and snow that they've spent the past week racing.

She idly wonders, as she ties a kerchief over her face to block the rain they'll hit within the hour, whether she'll make it home in time for her own world's Novilunium and the youma that hunt on it.

But then she sees Hippolyte's hand fitted over the handle of her axe – as she seems to do when she's nervous – and pushes away thoughts of her own world.

Right now there is still this world to save.

The eight riders guide the hardiest war horses up into the Fjall's, their hooves treading carefully over trails now slick with mud. The riders' eyes squint through heavy rain and snow for Horde, and they brace themselves for the high winds that will surely pick up as they ride into the heart of the storm

~_paxlunae_~

The thunder outside is so loud it seems to shake the walls of the giant racing stadium in which they've taken shelter. Hippolyte is glad at least their warhorses can sleep. Having slogged through the heaviest part of the storm with them for over a week, they barely twitch their tails as they slumber. The racehorses are a far different story. All down the stable they prance restlessly, tossing their heads and whickering as every few seconds a new crack and rumble shakes the sky.

A mumble behind her directs her gaze away from the railing, but it's only Brioget tossing in her sleep. Her Lieutenant sleeps lighter than most, but her other four soldiers – and Septimus – act very much like the warhorses. They have passed out on the floor of the loft with their boots still on and in one case their gladius gripped in their hand. But they do slumber, their time on the road having worn them out.  
But another of them, Hippolyte muses, is as restless as the racehorses. She spots the Guardian returning from her extensive pacing around the entire stadium, passing her sword anxiously between her hands. They searched the complex for the Horde upon arrival, but the monsters had left the place abandoned. Still, Terra has walked the entire perimeter with her sword in hand. Hippolyte sees her pause among the hay bails and look first towards their comrades and then down the loft.

"If you lose tomorrow because you're sleep deprived, I'll make sure it's the only thing History remembers about you." Hippolyte teases as the Guardian pauses to contemplate whether another walk around of the Stadium is warranted.

Terra blinks, head turning slowly towards her. She can see tired bags under the Guardian's eyes. "Come on." She points to the bails of hay beside her. "Eyes shut, now."

"I'll sleep if you do," Terra retorts though she does walk over to Hippolyte and settle against the hay. "What good is a Queen without her beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep is for Venusians." Hippolyte replies, the talk of slumber now making her own eyes seem heavy. She nods. "And I will, once everyone else is."

"Fine," Terra sighs. But her eyes remain open. "I've been thinking…I can't use all my power trying to get up to the Eerie tomorrow. I'll need to conserve it during the fight."

"Smart," Hippolyte thinks. "We'll be able to cover you."

"I know," Terra says, turning to look at Hippolyte instead of the ceiling. "But if you need to…to kill any of the Horde we meet tomorrow…I know you'll want to take the safest route to the Eerie possible…I understand."

"Thank you," Hippolyte looks down at her hand. It has already felled hundreds of the Horde, hundreds of her people. _"_But I've seen how much good you can do on your own…and I know some could be killed, but I'm going to try as hard as I can to keep all of them alive.

Serenity smiles. "Thank you," she yawns.

Hippolyte stifles a yawn of her own, eyes drooping. "You're optimistic, promise me something."

"We're going to win tomorrow." She says immediately, "I promise."

"Hippolyte smiles, settling in to sleep on her own pile of hay. "Thank you."

~_paxlunae_~

The thick rain pounded relentlessly against the slanted roofs and gilded domes of the great Palace. Winds whipped around the tall towers and through abandoned city streets at over 100 knots. It rattled the windows and doors, blew branches off of stoic trees, but did not hinder at all the monsters who hissed and shrieked as they prowled through wrecked buildings, burnt out halls, and up the streets. Many lazed within the silent houses and shops, idled through the river that ran through the port and into a natural moat around the palace. Many more shuffled slowly across the bridge and into the Palace courtyard, milling around emptied stables and through the heavy entry doors that had been battered off their hinges by panicked crowds and frenzied horses.

Themiscyra was typically one of the loudest cities in the Sol System, renowned for the mix of cultures and customs that mingled freely and exuberantly in its sprawling neighborhoods and exotic markets. But now the stalls had been turned over, awning shredded. Foods that had been for sale in the covered markets now rotted in the roads.

And all that was left of the millions of exuberant residents of Sol's cultural capital were the millions of monsters transformed from them the day poison had fallen with the rains.

Within this desolate ghost town, the Palace was the most silent of all. Once teaming with life, the only noise was the occasional hiss or shift of a Horde monster's claws trailing along the walls, or their nearly soundless breathe in the wide-open halls, along the large balconies, and open, spiraling stairs. So silent was the Palace that a pin dropped from the grand stairs would have echoed all the way from the wine cellars to the Eerie, who's open roof and tall Columns stretched up towards the clouds.

In this silence, the click of a hatch door deep in the cellars reached every monster on the next six floors. The Horde stirred, fangs barred, their spiked heads snapped to attention in near-unison. And they waited, a collective hiss resonating through the Palace halls.

But no other sound came.

As the restless Horde settled back into their rest, a gloved hand carefully pushed up the freshly oiled lid of the hatch. Sharp amber eyes scanned the room using a crescent of golden light that shone between blond locks of hair. Another gloved hand was extended out, poised to attack.

Sailor Earth scanned every corner, pausing a long moment on the open door that lead out into a hallway. Then she climbed out of the hatch, sandaled feet making no sound against the stone. She silently thanked her magic for this newfound help, one of many quirks she was far from understanding.

Her magic must have muffled the sound for she tripped on her way out. She gritted her teeth and just barely kept the point of her sword from clanging loudly against the cellar floor.

Then she turned her head down towards the open hatch and met the dark eyes the nodded up at her.

She gave thumbs up.

Hippolyte, axe drawn, padded up into the cellar on stocking-clad feet in light, leather armor. Even the golden belt that marked her as the Queen had been traded in for lighter, quieter equipment.

After her came six others who'd toed out of their shoes in the tunnel below, Brioget and another woman with their crossbows, three soldiers with torches and blades, and Septimus with a short sword he'd borrowed from the Juper stock of weapons.

Together the small troop crept up through the lowest cellar, eyes and lights shifting across the abandoned halls, ears perked for any sound. Hippolyte went ahead of the group, leading them back the way the royals had escaped. And Serenity guarded her on the right, Keeping pace with the Queen, She scans constantly ahead with the crescent beam of light. Until they reach the ground floor and its high windows she needs to be Hippolyte's eyes, the three torches in their company more for defense than sight.

She's the first to ascend the ladder to the next floor, repeating the scan across the room ears picking up the faint hiss from deeper in the cellar.

Around them is mostly storage: silhouettes of furniture and crates are crowded along the walls. The spaces within and around them are too small for the Horde. Hippolyte points along the long open cellar to blacker spaces along the sides: doorways to smaller rooms. She motions to the two crossbows in their company who nod, Brioget and her fellow soldier each load one of the specially tipped crossbow bolts and loose them towards the doors of the side rooms. The crack of the bolts into wood leads immediately into a roar as flames explode from the tips – consuming wooden doorways and blocking off the rooms. They continue firing through the cellar, lighting up room after room as the shrieks and hisses of Horde within them echo past the flames. They see some jets of water attempting to extinguish the fire barriers, but keep moving, aware of the scratch of claws on the ceiling – the Horde above know they are here.

The stairs to the next floor are around a corner, and Horde have begun to flood down the steps and out from the rooms on either side of the stairs.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" Serenity whispers, extending both hands. The familiar attack forces the crowd of monsters back and to the sides. The three soldiers wielding blades and torches bracket the outsides of their group, warding off the monsters that have begun to form a bubble around them.

Amid shrieks, stray jets of water, and the crash of blades against claws, they push their group up to the top of the stairs, seeing that all the horde from this level have now piled down the stairs.

"Septimus – Grab that tapestry!" Hippolyte's voice carries over the monsters they are holding back in the stairwell with swords. The Earth solider runs to the far wall, tearing the large, heavy artifact from its place. He drags it over to the stairs and Hippolyte picks it up, holds one corner over a torch until flame licks from the dry old fabric, and then throws the massive, burning heap into the stairwell. The Horde jump back from the heat, shrieking, as the fire stretches up towards the ceiling.

Serenity looks at Hippolyte's grim face as she and the other warriors step away from the stairs. "That was great thinking." She whispers.

Hippolyte sighs. "That was 2,000 years old," she mutters, eyes now turning towards the opened door that will lead out of the room. "My mother's going to coup me."

Two soldiers have to muffle a short laugh, but the rest have focused on the opened door. The Horde had broken the lock trying to get to them. And there's a faint blue light beyond it.

"The moat," Hippolyte supplies. "There's a window through this cellar you can see into it."

A_nd the Horde love to rest in water_, she doesn't have to say. The eight of them have their weapons ready as Serenity and Brioget lean out the open door. Serenity scans with the crescent of light as Brioget clears every corner with the cross bow.

There are stairs across the room – wide wooden ones with double doors at the top.

And on the left side of the room is a glass window that extends from half way up the wall to the ceiling, and from corner to corner. The blue-grey water of the moat filters through it – along with shadows: fish, plants, debris…

And Horde, Serenity and Brioget shrink back as the long shadow with spikes down its back drifts past the windowpanes.

"Let's move along the wall," Brioget says, and Hippolyte nods, stepping to the front. Serenity reaches out to grab her tunic, shaking her head.

"I'll go first." She says,

"Douse the light then," Hippolyte orders. Serenity nods, crescent's light fading. With care, she steps into the dimly lit room and shuffles along the wall towards the window. She looks out through the glass, squinting, but there are no large shadows through the murky water. She crouches down below the level of the glass and beckons to the Queen.

Hippolyte steps lightly and quickly to the window, pausing to look as Serenity had, out into the moat. She ducks down, holding her palm out flat in a wait gesture.

Serenity holds her breath as they wait, Hippolyte lifts her axe, using it's reflective blade to watch the shadow pass.

Once it has gone she beckons the next soldier through the door. She passes her torch off to the next soldier and comes after them.

Serenity crawls along below the window looking back at Hippolyte, who urges her onward until there's an arms length between them. She frowns, but waits for the Queen's plan.

Brioget comes next, four of them now stretched across the wall. Serenity can just about reach the staircase, the steps of which are within feet of the far corner. Hippolyte taps her hand and she shuffles once more along as the sixth person joins their line. All three torches now held by Septimus and the last Juper soldier waiting beyond them.

Hippolyte points her towards the stairs and she crawls to them, crouching down in the first step. The railing hides her from the window. She stretches out her arm – still within reach of Hippolyte.

Then the queen holds up a fist, waving it towards the two people left at the end of their line. The next soldier through carries the three torches and passes them – one after the other – quickly along the window until Hippolyte can pass each into Serenity's hands.

Now the light of the flames cases only the faintest of shadows down onto the floor. Hippolyte follows Serenity to the steps – relieving her of one of the flames – as Septimus at last shuffles over to the window and ducks below it.

Now the eight of them only have to make it up the stairs. Serenity and Hippolyte continue to climb, glancing behind them as they near the double doors. Still no sound beyond them. The first four of them have reached the stairs and Serenity has passed both torches down to Brioget and one of the soldiers. As Septimus and the final two soldiers approach the stairs, Hippolyte passes off her own torch to Brioget, then curls a hand around one of the handle of one massive door, and pulls.

With the final two members of their party still crawling to the stairs, the grind of rusted metal hinges screeches through the cellar. The Horde's own higher shrieks follow and Serenity whips her head around towards the window.

Water is rushing against it's normal current, pounding into the glass. As Hippolyte yanks the door the rest of the way open cracks splinter through the panes.

"Run!" Hippolyte commands. Serenity wrenches open the other door just as the glass shatters. Water explodes into the room, carrying a group of Horde with it. They direct the water into a wave that rushes rapidly towards the stairs, slamming into Septimus and the last soldier just as they reach the steps.

The last Juper soldier collapses with the wave, dragged beneath it as they pile out of the room. Septimus has drawn his sword and is beating back the monsters. He glances once at Serenity.

"GO!" He shouts. Hippolyte is grabbing her arm as Brioget pulls one of the cellar doors shut. Septimus reaches for the end of the other and throws it closed to beat the gushing water. As it slams shut, Serenity hears the clang as his sword is thrust through both door handles – barring them shut.

"We'll still save him." Hippolyte says as Serenity stairs at the water now flooding towards them from the crack below the doors. "Come on." She keeps a tight grip on Serenity's elbow as they walk quickly to the left, down a hall hung with portraits on one wall and high, rain battered windows on the other. Hippolyte pauses half way down. "Turn that light on."

"Sailor Earth Power," she whispers and her crescent mark lights up the dim hall.

At the end, a puddle of water is leaking through from another ornate set of doors.

"They're in the entrance hall." Hippolyte mutters. "Damnit, come on." And she guides them back a few paces to a door that opens onto a hallway. "This way is the outside stairs."

The clear this new corridor until they hit the curved wall of a pantry and the kitchen entry way. Hippolyte guides them to the right to an unassuming wooden door. It opens onto the storm, heavy rain and wind spraying them from beyond.

"Heads down." She says. "No one has any wounds?"

Headshakes answer her from the remaining six of them. The Queen leads them out into the storm, up a set of outside stairs that curves around the palace. "These go up to the floor below the Eerie." She whispers over the pouring rain. "Eyes all around. They might be above…below."

Serenity watches the ground as the ascend above the first floor. The Horde's spiked heads swim in dozens through the moat and the river. More mill on the shore.

Brioget and their second cross bow have trained their weapons down, bringing up the Rear. She shifts her eyes back and forth as they climb, wary of the stairs that wrap around the building. They cannot see more than the next ten steps at a time.

They make it three stories before Hippolyte stops short in front of her. She leans around the Queen.

A group of Horde twice their numbers shuffle back and fourth at the level of the fourth floor – that door thrown wide open.

The double back towards a third story entrance, but that door is shut and locked. Hippolyte's fist clenches around the axe.

She meets Serenity's eyes, unclipping the weapon from her belt, and jerks her head to the right, holding up two fingers.

Serenity nods, motioning to one of the Juper soldiers. They shuffle around to Hippolyte's right to cover the stairs above. Brioget and the final two soldiers huddle closer together – ready to run quickly through the door.

Hippolyte takes a deep breath and swings the axe as hard as she can into the lock.

It clangs, the lock falls apart. Hippolyte follows through by slamming her shoulder into the wood just as the group of Horde shriek as one – rushing towards them.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" Serenity shouts as she covers their group's exit. The flower petals hold the monsters back as her five companions escape. She backs slowly through the door frame as one soldier holds a torch to the wooden frame. Fire catches it slowly, smoking heavily. And Serenity holds up her attack as long as she can. When the Horde have begun to retreat from the smoke and heat she ends the attack, panting. Hippolyte frowns.

She give the Queen a thumbs up as she walks back to the front of their group. She's not nearly as tired as she might have been a month ago.

_I'm finally getting a handle on this_. She thinks as the continue back into the depths of the palace.

Hippolyte guides them back towards the grand stairs, out onto the balcony that overlooks the entrance hall. All of them step immediately back from the railing.

The first floor is packed – corner to corner – with the monsters. Their hisses and shrieks pick up one after the other.

She looks at Hippolyte. Surely there must be another short cut? But Hippolyte shakes her head. The outside stairs are compromised, and Jupiter's palace was designed to be airy and efficient. There are no hidden servants stairs.

Hugging the wall, weapons and eyes sweeping along the curving balcony, they reach the landing to the spiraling grand staircase. In a line, they step up onto the stairs keeping to the middle, lest anything below notice their movements.

Hisses echo around the drafty hall as they climb, eyes focused up, and back towards the sides. The six of them pass the fourth and then the fifth floor landing. Only five floors remain between them and the Eerie.

But they do not see the wide windows that curve around the length of the seventh floor landing, nor do those in their company who know the Palace think of the outdoor balcony that wraps around that high up…

The sound of shattering glass reaches them seconds before a jet of water sends Hippolyte slamming into the stairs. Serenity gets her sword up just in time to deflect the two Horde Monsters that have crashed through the window and fallen ontop of them. One she throws over the edge of the railing, the second she knocks into Brioget and the three remaining soldiers. It's claws catch one across the cheek and it's arm hooks around another. Fangs sinking through the solider's leather armor and piercing their shoulder.

"Come on!" Brioget says, grabbing the still burning torch from one of the fallen soldiers. They stay lying on the stairs. The one who's been bitten holds onto the monster with all their remaining strength, determined to keep it back before the change overtakes them.

Hippolyte has stumbled to her feet and Serenity supports her on the right side as she clutches that hand to her forehead. The stairs had split an ugly gash into her skin. It bleeds through her fingers.

With little use for stealth with Horde already on the stairs they sprint up the remaining floors. Horde pile in behind them and Serenity sees jets of water shooting up from the ground floor. Others dive down towards them from the upper floors and still more run on four limbs up the steps behind them. They gain on them.

Brioget races ahead, shooting two of her special bolts into the walls on the ninth floor. Flames shoot up, running along the walls and floor to keep the Horde back. But they do not make it to the stairs. The final soldier in their line deflects two more jumpers on her sword before the third catches her from behind. They crash into the steps, rolling down towards the advancing mob.

Jets of water flying all around them, Brioget at last sees the tenth story landing. She races up to it, wrenching open two metal doors to reveal one final, steep, stairwell.

And just as the reach the top, another jet of water slams into Serenity's shoulder. She's knocked foreward, loosing her grip on Hippolyte who rolls several steps down before she's able to curl a hand around the railing. She hauls herself up, deflecting one more jet of water off her axe.

But not before a drop of it spashes across her face – right into her open wound.

Her heart pounds in her throat as the cool sting of the water in her cut registers. The Queen deflects the first Horde to reach her and calls back to Serenity.

"Keep going." She feels the sharpness of everything beginning to fade. Her hands shake as she wields the axe, barely deflecting the oncoming claws of monsters trying to reach the tenth floor.

Brioget calls out to Serenity from half way up the final stairs.

And from the tenth floor landing, she sees the crowd of monsters finally converge on Hippolyte, swallowing the queen in the crowd.

_No._

Without a thought for Brioget, she sprints back down the stairs.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" she shouts. An extra powerful blast explodes from her hands, sending dozens of monsters toppling over the stair rails, falling towards the ground floor. Still more she beats back to the eighth floor, their arms trying to deflect the petals. Two more lie collapsed over the body on the stairs. She kicks them away, forcing them back with the flat of her blade.

"Terra, stay back." Hippolyte coughs. Her tan skin already covered in streaks of brown and grey.

But instead she kneels down, hooking an arm under Hippolyte's shoulders and hauling her off the ground. She whips Moonlight down in a powerful swing.

"MOONLIGHT BLAST!" She shouts.

The resulting force slashes down into the marble stairs, a thunderous crack splits through the building as the stone before them collapses, large chunks falling to the floors below, creating a five foot gap between them and the remaining Horde.

But more are still coming.

"Keep walking." Serenity mutters as she drags Hippolyte up to the landing, up to the steep Eerie stairs. Brioget is at the top, holding open the final door. Beyond them the thick grey sky looms.

Hippolyte is shaking.

"I'm going to change." She pleads desperately. "Leave me back – I'll ruin everything."

"Just stay here." Serenity commands as Brioget slams the stairway doors shut. The force of dozens of water jets pummels them from the other side. The Lieutenant leans all her weight against it as Serenity settles Hippolyte on the ground.  
Sailor Earth focuses her attention away from the half-conscious Queen and towards the center of the Eerie.

It is an open room, colomns all around the edges look out on the grey sky and the city scape – no barrier between the edge of the Eerie and the sky. Even the ring that connects the circle of columns is open to the sky.

And in the center of it all, a tall pink crystal grows in a circle, curving around to form a hollow big enough for one person to stand within.

Serenity runs into it, hand coming up to touch the light-pink crystal.

"Hurry!" Brioget's call is distant in her ears.

She can feel immense power tingling at her finger tips, as powerful – if not more – than what she feels whenever she stands within Elysium's cloister of the Guardian.

"Please," she whispers to the Crystal. "Give me the power to save this world – to save Hippolyte."

Power sizzles at her fingertips, almost painful, as it travels up her arm.

She feels her crescent mark begin to glow. Power flooding through her. She grits her teeth as it surgest up her arms towards the golden crystal. It's locket begins to shine, blinding her. She clenches the fists of both hands and shuts her eyes.

Suddenly The Eerie ceases to be. Around her is endless, glowing, pink light. And from within it, a small spectre emerges.

"Sailor Sol?" she guesses.

But the tiny shadow shakes her head.

"I never did live long enough to earn that title," a little girl's voice answers her. The shadow bows towards her. "But you still might. My name is Diane, last Guardian of this world."

"Diane…how can I use the power you had." She begs, fists still clenched. The power of Jupiter's powerful Crystal feels like lightning shooting through her bones. "I've never used any power but Earth's."

"It is always difficult the first time you must master the power of another planet, Diane says. "But to use it – you must first accept it. You fight this planet's power."

"I-"

"You think it is hurting you," Diane's small shadow interrupts her. She sees for the first time that amused green eyes study her. "But Jupiter's power is in its storms. To use it, you must also accept them."

The lightning coursing through her makes her teeth chatter. It _hurts_.

"Don't fight it," Diane says, shadow fading. "Let the storm become part of you."

When Serenity blinks again the grey light of the Eerie is once again around her and tiny sparks of pink lightning flood off the crystal into her fingertips.

Stealing herself she lets out a deep breath and flattens her palm against the crystal, letting the lighting connect fully with her hand.

As she lets the power fill her the pain of it fades, replaced by a frenetic excitement.

Jupiter's massive power is not something to be used, she quickly understands. Her other hand falls on the handle of her sword. But it can be guided.

As she lifts the sword aloft her head turns again towards Hippolyte, slumped against the stairwall door. She stares at the long spikes growing from her hands.

Words bubble to Serenity's lips as the lightning power floods into her from the glowing, pink crystal.

"Moonlight…Healing…THUNDER!"

~_paxlunae_~

She can't hear anything but the rush of water in her ears and the hiss of the Horde…fellow members of the Horde.

She can't stop staring at her hands, watching the spikes that sprout from her wrists. She never realized the split through the bone. Still more at her elbows, and from her spine, make her shake in agony.

_Please Terra_, she thinks desperately. She can hear Brioget swearing above her.

Serenity's voice suddenly pierces the storm. "_Moonlight…Healing…THUNDER!"_ and then a crack that deafens the Queen. She slams her hands up over her ears just as a blinding light floods the Eerie, sizzling her skin. She blinks her eyes as it retreats and gasps.

The light has converged into a pale pink bolt of lightning that has engulfed Serenity, standing, sword raised, in the center of the crystal circle. The energy has lifted the Guardian off the floor and a pulse of it's light ripples through the air, shocking Hippolyte as it rushes through her.

She gasps."

The fuzziness in her head clears instantly, the sounds of hissing and of water are cut off. She brings her hands away from her ears in time to see the spikes crumbling away from her hands.

"By Ra." Brioget mutters as she collapses against the door. Beyond it the sounds of fighting have dispursed, replaced suddenly by frantic muttering, by cries, by human screams.

Hippolyte pushes herself to her feet, mouth agape as she watches the pink lightning ripple up into the heavy clouds of the storm, turning them back to their normal red as it extends towards the grey horizons. And still ripples of power continue to pulse from the lightning, passing through Hippolyte and Brioget and towards the rest of the Palace.

She runs towards the edge of the Eerie, leaning out towards the sprawling cityscape.

The heavy rain has turned to a light pink hue, tinged slightly by gold, and as it rains down on the city she hears the gasps of people taking their first breath in months. Sees a few horde out on the street collapse and rise again in their human bodies. When the rain hits the river that begins to glow as well, human beings crawling up onto the banks as it spreads downstream, towards the ocean, and upstream, around the palace moat.

And as the glowing rain hits her skin she laughs, the sound hoarse in her throat. The bright, normal color of her home's clouds spreads and expands out to the horizon as the pink lightning continues to ripple through it.

Then the cheering from the streets reaches her ears with the river and the rains still glowing.

Life has returned to Themiscyra.

"Hippolyte!" Brioget calls from behind her as her eyes catch the strong pink glow of the lighting flicker.

She whirls around in time to see Moonlight slip from Terra's hands, clattering to the floor. The Sailor's arms have fallen limp and the lightning around her has begun to shrink.

Hippolyte sprints into the hollow crystal's circle with her arms out, catching Terra as the lightning flickers out.

The guardian collapses on her, causing her knees to buckle. She tightens her hold on Terra as they sink to the floor, eyes taking in the fading light of her crescent mark.

_You really did it._ she gapes at Terra, hand shaking as she presses to fingers over the Guardian's pulse.

"She alive?" Brioget asks and Hippolyte sees for the first time that her Lieutenant has come over to retrieve the Moonlight.

"Yes," Hippolyte says, adjusting her hold on Terra so that she can lift the guardian off the ground. The crystal around them still glows brightly. It's energy humming in the air around them, sparking against her skin.  
"How did you control this?" Hippolyte marvels as she steps out of the crystal. At the edge of the Eerie, the stairwell doors have fallen open, restored citizens of Themiscyra are sprawled through them, unconscious.

"I'll go seek out the others." Brioget says "Is there any way to contact Ganymede?"

Hippolyte shakes her head. "We'll have to go in person." She frowns. "We should still have a few creatures able to cross through the atmosphere."

"Creatures?" Brioget asks.

"Yes," she says as they carefully navigate the narrow stairs. The guardian is still out cold in her arms. "In fact, can you go down to the grove of trees that grows across from the moat. I have a feeling they'll have settled in there during all this…chaos."

"How will I know them?"

Hippolyte smiles, "just stand within the grove and sing something – they'll come to you."

~_paxlunae_~

"_Guardian," the voice is old and low. It seems to echo through her brain._

_Serenity blinks open her eyes, for a second seeing Diane in front of her._

_But this voice is much too low to be the tiny Juper Guardian's, and her body much too tall. It was the eyes that confused Serenity. This woman's are also bright green, though one appears foggy. Blind, perhaps?_

"_Very old age has it's effects even on us," the other Guardian's voice rumbles. "But I can see here as fine as ever."_

_She registers the black hair of this guardian, and the brown skin. She does look familiar._

"_I saw you…in the crypt," she realizes. "Tana!"_

"_Sharp, I see. That will serve you well," Tana's face does not smile, nor does it frown. She extends a hand towards Serenity. "You've pushed your power to accomadate that of the other planets. Commendable. Very few are able before they're powers have transformed to those of Sol's."_

"_I only did what I had to," Serenity whispers. _

_Tana hums. "Indeed…and with it you've pushed your powers limits."_

"_What does that mean."_

"_More of your dreams to start," the spirit of Tana advises. "The rest to come._

"_But I've little time to talk to you." Tana says. Indeed her figure is fading from Serenity's sight. "Pay close attention – the Golden Crystal –"_

_But she is gone as suddenly as she came and Serenity is left reaching in the dark._

"_The Golden Crystal what?" she shouts into the blackness. She walks forward, looking round and round, until a speck of light catches her attention. She walks towards it, and it rushes to meet her._

_From the blackness, a familiar figure in regal green and gold armor emerges, with an ornamental golden helmet on their head. Their booted feet are planted securely on the floor of their chariot and she sees the reigns in their hand, directing two massive creatures through the dark sky as casually as others might breathe. She focuses briefly past the Charioteer at both of the steeds who fly the Chariot. Are those horns on their heads._

_She sees gold flash, the metal coats the shining armor that covers the Charioteers torso and upper legs. She looks up to see better as the Charioteer looks back towards her, dark eyes crinkling as the Charioteer smiles towards her. _

"_Finally," Hippolyte's voice says "you're awake."_

Serenity blinks. The world around her coming into focus.

The blackness around the Charioteer is not as imaginary as she thought. She pinpricks of light in the distance, stars.

"Sorry if this is...disorienting." Hippolyte says. "I thought it better to get you and Septimus up to Ganymede before crowds of grateful citizens converged on you. Thought the last thing you might want to wake up to was crowds."

"_You're_ the Charioteer." Serenity whispers.

"What?" Hippolyte frowns.

"Um…I mean you can drive a Chariot."

"Of course." Hippolyte shrugs. "Almost every child learns at some point."

"Oh," Serenity glances around for another way of deflecting Hippolyte's question. Her eyes once again catch sight of the creatures flying their craft. "Are those…horses?"

Hippolyte laughs. "Not quite. And don't say that to them – they're easily offended."

"Why?"

Hippolyte looks out at the powerful creatures. "They're unicorns. We've only a select few on Jupiter. Earth actually has more, but they're very reclusive creatures." She says as Jupiter's thin rings fly past. "These are two of a herd of seven who made out Palace their home. Frigga and I befriended them.

She can't quite imagine a smaller Hippolyte charming these sensitive beasts. "Why didn't they help when Themiscyra was raided?" she asked the Queen, coming up to stand beside her as space flies past.

"They…don't like conflict between people," Hippolytre confides. "I don't think they liked how aggressive we were with the Horde. They were gone before poison even rained on Themiscyra."

Serenity nods, wondering if she should speak again. Hippolyte is guiding the Chariot around the giant, stormy planet. Flying them around the side of Jupiter currently living through night. She wonders if the people below can see the Chariot flying past.

"Septimus is alright." Hippolyte says. "But he is still unconscious so I sent him up with Brioget."

"Good," Serenity nods. "Is he going up to Ganyemede now?"

"He is…but we'll take a bit longer to get there." Hippolyte sighs. "I've taken us the long way round."

Serenity startles. "Why?"

And the Queen's dark eyes turn to study hers. "I've been…dishonest with you."

Her heart rises in her throat. _About what?_ "Oh?"

The Queen drops her eyes towards her hands, frowning. "To make sure you would be able to fight here, I made a deal with your king."

"To reopen trade between worlds."

"Quite true, yes." Hippolyte says. "But we also had a deal about you…" She pauses for quite along time as they fly beside the constantly shifting clouds of her planet. "Terra…the King has hidden you past from you. From even before you were hit by your world's Forgetful Fog. I initially meant to keep my promise to him – good relations with a monarch are not something to take lightly." She swallows heavily. "But…even if I had not come to see why my mother sanctioned Earth, I realized that you had become my allie, and I could not leave you in the dark."

She pulls her eyes up to meet Serenity's. "Terrio…is not your father."

A relieved breath escapes Serenity's throat as she giggles, and at Hippolyte's confused look, explains. "Thank you for your honest, I've been hoping since this trip began that I could count you as an ally."

"You – you knew?" Hippolyte breathes.

"I was not…affected by the fog as my King has been saying."

"You weren't?" Hippolyte gapes.

"No," Serenity smiles, hand reaching out to cover one of Hippolyte's. "And…my name is not Terra."

"What is it then?"

She smiles up at the young Queen. "It's Serenity."

"Serenity," Hippolyte whispers as she sounds out the word. Then she grins, turning her hand over so that she can clasp Serenity's. "It's nice to meet you."

"You too, and." Serenity bites her lip. "I'm hoping I can count you as more than an ally. More like a friend."

"Friend." Hippolyte grins. "Well met Serenity, or Serenity Selen I should say."

Her heart flips. It is the first time, she realizes, that any one other than a Priestess has called her by her true name.

Hippolyte's hand is warm in hers, her fingers lacing through Serenity's. She stares for a long moment at their hands. "Will you be escorting us home?" she asks.

"No," the Queen says, as she too stares at their hands, a thoughtful look on her face. "That duty goes to Hermes again – I'll be needed here to rebuild out ruined cities."

"Of course," Serenity says.

"But…this does not mean I won't see you." Hippolyte insists. "After all I think you owe me a well overdue rematch with your sword."

Serenity grins. "All right, and hopefully the next time we meet it isn't on a battlefield."

"I hope so," Hippolyte whispers as their conversation tapers off.

They're approaching the sunlight just peeking around the curve of Jupiter's atmosphere. As both direct their attention towards the rising sun, Serenity squeezes Hippolyte's hand.

By the time they reach Ganymede's icy landing fields, neither seems aware they are still holding hands until Serenity looks down at them, letting her own slip from Hippolyte's as they land.

She sees a group of people running towards their Chariot, Septimus earth armor at the tail end of the line.

"Serenity," Hippolyte whispers as she steps down from the Chariot. The Queen's hand hesitates before falling back to her side. "Should anything happen on Earth…with the King."

She glances at Septimus, now within hearing range.

"Thank you," she says to the Queen. "I'm hoping it continues to go smoothly though."

Hippolyte nods, eyes flickering towards Septimus, as she lowers her voice. "Just know – some storms we do not see until they are right on top of us."

A chill runs up her spine as the Queen passes her Moonlight – which has been resting against the side of the Chariot. "I'll keep watch," she promises.

"Terra!" Septimus crows, large hand clapping her on the shoulder. "Well met, down there. I've never been so pleased to wake up in a dungeon. Thought I was a gonner for a while there."

Around her others are cheering their praise, saying her carriage is just about ready, two more go to escort Hippolyte from her Chariot.

"Thank you, but there's chaos on the surface." She says, flicking the reigns of her two unicorns. They scuff their paws against the ground preparing, again, to take off. "I have a lot of recovery to oversee."

"We'll give your royal brother your regards," one attendant promises. And steps back as Hippolyte's steeds race forwards, dragging the chariot behind them.

She meets the Queen's eyes one last time before she turns away, flying back towards her cities.

"Ready to go home Septimus?" she asks.

"Ha! More than, Lady Terra!" He laughs. "By Ra, wait until your father here's a bout all this, then. He's sure to get you started with more training."

She nods, unable to say anything in response that isn't a lie. Septimus seems happy to prattle on anyway, giving the attendents around them play by plays of the battle – including parts he's clearly got form Brioget.

She tries to push back the nervous feeling she has about returning to Elysium.

_Earth is home_, she thinks. _The sun, the seasons, the smell of the roses in bloom… I can't let these nerves chase me from it._

_I'll get these youma under control,_ she decides._ I'll vanquish that demon that troubles us for whether Terrio summoned it or not he surely cannot control it now. Once we're rid of that…the King and I may come to terms._

_After all, real father or not, perhaps I am still family to him._

~_À Suivre_~


	15. Suspect

AN: Apologies for how long this took. A family member's surgery last week and a lot of stress on top of that this week put me behind. (plus this chapter was kinda tough…so many things needed to happen in short order). All that aside – here it is, chapter 15 – I hope you enjoy it. I also hope to have one, if not two, more chapters out before the week is over. I have to make up for the wait…

I also have an announcement. I am moving. I leave the USA for Prague on Friday and from there I'll be getting a teaching certification and getting a job…wherever the best offer is. Could be Germany could by the Czech Republic…could be Japan. XD. It means biweekly updates for sure (I will be very busy the first month or so). But you should all be comforted to know I plan to wrap up Pax in November…just in time to give you all a very nice Christmas Present / Crossover fic. Then a Sequel/Companion to this will follow. Details to be announced. ;)

Disclaimer: Once again. Not mine. I swear on the Moon Kingdom that I don't profit on this. (But If Naoko ever wants to discuss how one might go about renting a copyright, I will warmly welcome the idea).

Last Time On Pax: Serenity successfully tapped into the power of planet Jupiter, cleansing it's storm and water sources of the Horde virus, and restoring it's mutated citizens to their true selves (and learned the identity of the Charioteer in her dreams along the way). Now she is back in Elysium and word of her fighting Prowess has reached King Terrio's ear...

Suspect

"Like nothing I've ever seen before," Septimus exclaims, raising his arms above his head. "She just summoned the lightning right out of the storm. She stood right in the middle of it, and then all the energy in it exploded out, reversed the Horde transformation in every direction."

"Not that you saw any of this first hand," Queen Portia remarks dryly.

"Well no, I woke up in the dungeon – still glowing, by the by." Septimus says. "Nah, Brioget relayed the whole thing to me afterwards. She was right up there in the Eerie, she had a first hand view."

"And what of Terra's power throughout the rest of the campaign?" Terrio asks, "Hermes mentioned she was quite good with her sword. Did you observe her remembering anything?"

"Not as far as I saw," Septimus ponders. "I heard she duelled the Queen at one point."

"And you didn't see it?" Terrio blusters.

"Well I was injured wasn't I?" Septimus says. "Look that Jupiter gravity was a hard adjustment regardless of what kind of medicine they gave me. When I wasn't doing long range fighting I was twice as slow as I'd have been here."

"Very well," Terrio sighs. "But her sword fighting?"

"Was very proficient, but I can't say whether or not she remembers her skill with it before the fog."  
"Why ever not?" Portia queries.

"Muscle memory," Septimus clarifies as the King nods at him. "It's entirely likely her body knows how to fight with that sword even if she doesn't remember ever training on it. And in battle, Your majesty, you know as well as I how much you rely on instinct."

"Very true," Terrio nods. "Well that is a comfort at least. I am still concerned about her magic."

"Helios did mention once that it too could be instinctive," Portia says.

"I don't know nothing about magic your majesties," Septimus comments. "But she's got damn fine instincts if that's all it is." He shifts from foot to foot. "She might even be powerful enough to take on that Demon that troubles you."

"I can manage Metalia, Septimus." Terrio's quiet voice has a dangerous tone to it. "Do well to remember it is that demon's power that's kept this kingdom at peace."

"Of course majesty," Septimus bows. "Just gives me the shivers is all."

"We must all deal with things we dislike in life," Terrio says. "Should I take this to mean your fellow knights are doubting my capabilities?"

"Of-of course not, Magesty." Septimus says, bowing lower to the floor. "And I shall be the first to report to you the names of any man who doubts your power."

"That's right. As long as I control the Golden Crystal you've nothing to fear." Terrio smiles thinly. "Now I realize you're tired from traveling, Septimus. Why don't you retire for the evening."

"Right away! Good night, Majesties." Septimus says, walking backwards to the doors and slipping out of the throne room.

As the click of the door closing echoes through the chamber, Portia studies her husband. "He's right to doubt, you know," she observes. "I've heard a few of Metalia's visits with you."

"I have it perfectly in hand," he whispers back. "If that demon cannot handle some simple 'Rabbit spirit' then it's nothing I have to fear."

"Just because they call it spirit does not mean it has limited power," Portia says. "It could simply mean the people this spirit defends have not gotten a good enough look."

"I know," Terrio snaps. "I can only be comforted that they seem to have disappeared last month." He pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Have you heard Helios lately?" he asks Portia.

The Queen shakes her head, tapping one of her bronze earrings. "The magic dampeners that keep him from escaping his cell also interfere with existing spells. But I have from his guards that he has spoken little – mostly babble."

"Still useless to me then," Terrio sighs. "We're just going to have to keep an eye on Terra."

"She can't possibly remember finding the Selen tombs," Portia says.

"Doubtful, but then again," Terrio reaches out to grip Portia's hand, "she shouldn't be as good as Septimus claims with magic either…"

~_paxlunae_~

The moonless night sky is packed with the sharp pinpricks of light that stretch across the clear, winter sky. Sailor Earth watches them from her perch atop a brick roof, eyes drifting to the steady, pale yellow light of Jupiter in the east. _I wonder how Hippolyte is_, she ponders while she waits.

She can hear the Youma below her, chasing down hostages who stumble through the dark streets and shooting green blasts that shatter windows and punch holes through stone. She crouches lower on the roof, drawing Moonlight close. It sounds like over 20 of them…the sounds come from all different directions in the city.

Just after sunset she'd been out of bed and off to the Western Temple to fetch one of the Pegasus horses the priests raised. From there she'd patrolled the provinces around Elysium from the sky, dispatching three small teams of Youma.

They had been too small, much too small, and she had turned around before she'd even covered the coastline.

In the month of her absence, the Youma had kidnapped and killed over 21 people in the provinces. She's had a hunch that this month they'd be bolder, and return to their favoured stomping ground through Elysium's streets.

From the sound of it, she was all too right. She ducks lower on the roof, hoping the amethysts in her pigtails do not catch any of their eyes. There are too many to hunt down individually, and she hadn't dared use the Pegasus horse to manuever around them from above – not with the watchful towers of the Palace so close by…

Below her a woman cries out as she's dropped into the middle of the marketplace, knees cracking against the road. Sailor Earth winces, but stays down. She can still hear the gleeful shrieks of more Youma filtering into the square from the side streets.

She waits until she can feel the crackly of magic in the air before rising above the edge of the roof. There are 30 youma around the square, their claws extended as they form a portal within their circle. It grows above the heads of the trapped civilians.

Stepping up onto the roof's edge, she keeps one hand on Moonlight and raises the other towards the circle of Youma. "Oi!" she shouts, grinning as all thirty of them whip around the face her.

This is almost fun after her battles on Jupiter. There is, after all, nothing human in the Youma to restrain her.

"I warned you about stealing innocents from my city." she calls out. "As the Rabbit Spirt, defender of Love and Justice -"

Several youma interrupt her with piercing shrieks as they rush at her.

"Cut to the chase then," she says, extending one gloved hand. "here goes – Earth Thorn Hurricane!"

A forceful wind erupts from her palm, slamming into the first of the youma as thorns spin out from the wind. They shoot out in all directions, spinning into the Youma and shredding them one after another. The creatures' shrieks die off abruptly as a rain of ash settles over the gaping hostages.

Her eye catches sight of a guard helmet atop one civilian's head, and she jumps back from the roof's edge. She won't take her chances with the Palace guards. Quickly, cheers rising up from the street behind her, Serenity runs along the rooftops back to the Palace. She vaults over the wall, ducks into the stables, and slips inside the Palace and up the servant's stairs before word has even reached the couriers – The Rabbit Spirit has returned to Elysium.

~_paxlunae_~

_Usurper_, the demon's voice sends shivers up his spine making him spill his wine. He whirls around as it splashes on his shirt.

"Metalia," he says, eyes drifting to the drawer of the desk where he keeps the talisman that controls the demon. He edges over to the study door and clicks it shut. No reason to alarm Portia when she retires to bed. "I take it your latest hunt has not gone…well."

_You know well it hasn't, letting that vigilante obstruct my soldiers, _Metalia hisses at him.

Ah, the Rabbit Spirit has come back then. He frowns. Why would it disappear one month only to foil Metalia again the next? He sips his wine, hoping Metalia cannot see his hands shaking. The demon's red eyes glare at him from windowpane.

_Have you gone back on your word to me, False King_?

"I have not – what ever this spirit is, it is no concern of mine."

_Do you think me so deluded!_ The demon's voice makes one of the study lamps shatter. _They might be a spirit to your foolish kind, but that being who opposes me is human! _The red eyes in the window narrow. _You are trying to get rid of me_.

Terrio presses his back against the door and clenches his fist. "I swear I have not – our agreement stands."

_Then grant me more lands! _Metalia howls. _Far afield from this nuisance!_

"You have plenty of land," Terrio sputters. "I cannot help it if this sp-human can travel fast enough to foil all of your assaults."

_I will have my energy_, Metalia whispers.

"But you can't have anymore lands," Terrio insists. "I have given you access to those cities and people I can spare –"

_Then I shall take them by force_, Metalia insists, the eyes in the window fading.

"You cannot go to any land without my allowance!" Terrio says, stepping towards the desk. If he could just reinforce that with the talisman.

The red eyes grow bigger in the window. _You think so_. And suddenly the glass shatters. Terrio is knocked back as a dark force slams him into one of the walls, knocking over his desk chair and sending books tumbling from their shelves. His wine glass tips from his hand onto the floor.

He scrambles further into the wall as the dark force coalesces into a large ghost with a gem burning at the center of its forehead. Metalia's red eyes stare at him as its mouth grins. Two arms grow from its sides and reach for him.

_You have no idea what I am capable of_, Metalia whispers.

"I will reseal you," Terrio sputters, flinching as the claws pass through his cheek.

_False King indeed, _Metalia grins. _Only the Golden Crystal has ever sealed me away._ Its eyes grow bigger, and he screams as it dives towards him.

But the ghost disappears. Terrio gasps as his eyes dart all over the room. He jumps when the door creaks open.

"Dear…" Portia murmurs and gasps, opening the door fully as she takes in the shattered window.

Her next words are lost to his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"She still can not take any new cities." He assures himself.

~_paxlunae_~

Sailor Earth scans the cities and countryside below as the Pegasus soars through the moonless sky. She frowns as she sees the towers on Elysium's palace approaching.

_Where are all the youma?_

She guides the faithful horse back to the Western temple and is met by a commotion of priests rushing to meet her.

"Thank Ra!" The old Father Priest shouts as he hobbles towards her, cane clacking franticly on the tiles. "There were no Youma, then?"

"How did you know."

"They're all further south!" The priest gasps. "Reports from Dravi – across the sea – a whole army of them decended on the streets."

"But the Priestesses said that's still a protected land!" Serenity says as she pulls on the Pegasus reins. "I have to go."

"He won't fly fast enough." The priest shakes his head. "I'm sorry, Guardian, but you'll never make it that far south in time."

She bites her lip. Hippolyte would say to leave the city until they had a better position. But this was not like the horde. People captured by youma could not be rescued. You could not rescue the dead.

_Hippolyte_…

When Hippolyte had sent Hermes to negotiate her help with Terrio he had given the king two of the Juper horses. Surely beasts fast enough to fly between Earth and Jupiter in a week could manage to get to Dravi in enough time.

She is already urging the Pegasus into another flight and holds a hand out to the Father Priest. "Come on."

"to Dravi?" The priest says as his colleagues around the courtyard voice similar confusion.

"No to the Palace!" She tells him, hauling the old man onto the back of the beast. "Someone needs to fly him back here."

And then she is again up in the air, flying over Elysium and above the Palace wall, navigating over the top of a guard tower. She hovers the Pegasus over the stables and hands the reins off to the priest, jumping down onto the roof and slipping through a high window into the stables.

She runs all the way to the end where the Juper horses are kept in extra large pens. But as she's approaching their stalls one of the doors swings open. She freezes. It is a stable boy, one she knows. And she's entirely too aware of how well the lamps are lit and how sheer her veil really is.

The boy jumps back when he sees her, cocking his head to the side. "You're…the Rabbit Spirit."

She nods rather than speak lest he recognize her voice. She points one gloved hand towards the stall.

He looks at her and nods. "Anything you need lady!" He says, and rushes to grab a saddle from the wall, but she jumps up onto the horse's bare back instead. The mare snorts and shuffles her feet. Sailor Earth guides her from the cell.

"Y-you saved my cousins life a few months back." The boy stutters. "L-lady I should tell the King – he will want to know you."

She turns to the eager boy and raises a finger to her lips, head shaking.

She hasn't time to think about whether he will follow her silent order. Instead she kicks the large horse into a trot, sending it barging out the stable doors and up into the air, taking off at a speed so powerful she must bend low over its neck and hold on tightly to its mane. Her eyes are trained on the dark horizon, staring at the faint plume of purple energy that grows larger by the second.

She sees the army of Youma circling above before she can tell apart the buildings and readies her sword and her hand to attack.

The youma will not take any more lives so long as she keeps watch.

~_paxlunae_~

"Keep up, Ronan," Terrio snaps at his youngest boy. He strides quickly down the halls away from the war room and the many confused advisors and knights he has left there.

Metalia has sent her forces to Dravi – his most lucrative port, Dravi. – _protected _Dravi.

He'd retrieved the talisman from the desk at the beginning of the Novilunium in preparation for any kinds of mischief from the demon. Now it bounces uselessly around his neck.

"I'm coming!" Ronan huffs, taking a couple of fast strides to catch up with him. Terrio rushes down through the halls and down to the antechamber that has seen little use during his tenure as King. "You know we have trouble with the demon on the Novilunium, do you not, son?"

"Yes," Ronan pants, eyes centering in on the crystal on its pedestal in the center of the room.

"It has gone after Dravi, bypassing protections," Terrio says. "Meaning that this," he holds up the amulet around his neck as Ronan shuts the door to the chamber. "Is no longer containing it."

"Are you going to use the crystal then?" Ronan asks.

Terrio sighs. "I can't, son. I've never had very good control of the Golden Crystal," he picks the jewel up off its pedestal and holds the it out to Ronan. "But last year it responded to you."

"I think it was just calling to Terra," Ronan says, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

"Perhaps," Terrio agrees, kneeling before his son with the crystal in his open palm. "But I saw it glow as soon as you touched it. It does respond to you, if not as strongly as it does to Terra. And I need to see if you can wield it on your own."

"C-can't you get Terra though?" Ronan asks biting his lip.

Terrio shakes his head, "I'm afraid it would overwhelm her again." _And this crystal in the hand of the Guardian could be as dangerous as Metalia free of its confines…better the demon I know._ "But you were able to listen to it before. Just try it now. If you can control it, we may be able to rid ourselves of the demon forever," He says, pushing the crystal towards Ronan.

Ronan, still worrying his lip between his teeth, reaches his small hand out for the Golden Crystal and takes it from his father. He curls both small hands around it and scrunches his eyes shut.

Terrio stands and steps back, eyes narrowing as he watches Ronan closely. The boy's eyebrows are drawn together and his hands are curled around the crystal.

But it does not glow. The only light is reflected off the flickering lamps. It is as ordinary as any of the plane topazes they mine in the mountains.

Ronan shakes his head, eyes on the floor. "Sorry, Father…I don't feel anything," he says, walking up to the pedestal and placing the crystal back there. "Will we be able to help the people in Dravi."

Terrio forces a smile onto his face. Mind spinning. _Why does it not glow_? "I've already dispatched the navy, son. That's fine. The ancient magic is a fickle thing." He gestures towards the door. "Hurry along. I believe you may still have time to sneak back to the library before your mother catches you and orders you to bed.

"Yes father," Ronan says, bowing as he exits the room.

Terrio whirls around as the door closes, grabbing the lightless crystal in his hand. He squeezes the cold gem until it cuts into his fingers. Had he been wrong?

_No, last year when each of them tried to use it…Ronan made it glow before Terra even touched it._

~_paxlunae_~

"Tis indeed a fake, my liege." Elysium's most well respected jeweller squints through his magnifying glass and wrinkles his nose. "A good replica in terms of shape and crystallization pattern…but see these lines." He directs Terrio's attention to the edges of the Gem. "These are the marks you get when a gem is cut with fine magic. It leaves a more perfect jewel than tools would…but the Golden Crystal's edges were much softer than this. I believe the explanation goes that it was not ever carved – it was simply formed as its shape."

Terrio hums, mind far from the meeting. He leans back in his chair across the table from the jeweller and taps his finger against his chin.

"Well thank you for confirming it." Portia says brightly from where she stands behind Terrio's chair.

"C-certainly," The jeweller stammers as he places his magnifying glass back in his bag. "No doubt someone thought they could make a quick fortune…I could alert the other jewellers to watch for –"

"_No_" Terrio snaps from across the table. "This matter shall be handled internally…am I understood."

"P-perfectly, Majesty." The Jeweller rushes to say.

"You're dismissed," Terrio says, glaring the elderly man from the room.

Once he's tripped over himself to get out the door and Portia has barred behind him, she takes the seat across from the King. "You have a theory," she observes.

"I can't confirm it." Terrio rubs a hand over his face. "Did you know I had word from the stable master this morning – one of the Juper horses was let out of its stall last night. He went to alert a guard, and by the time they'd returned from searching for it the horse was back in its stall – brushed down and the gate locked up. Someone had even been clever enough to erase its footprints from the ground."

"Someone smart enough to sneak into the Palace stables might have a similarly easy time swapping the Golden Crystal for a fake," Portia puts together. "Any thoughts on when…"

But Terrio is shaking is head. "The last time I took it out was the day the peasant came to beg our help with the harvest."

"A year ago." Portia puts her head in her hands. "But it's checked every night…how could no one notice?"

"It's a very good copy," Terrio says, fingers tracing the cut edges of the crystal. "I know of many who can wield magic, but few who've been trained to the extent that they can do such fine work."

"A Priest or Priestess then," Portia considers. "Which does narrow down their motivation."

"Quite…" Terrio tosses the fake crystal between his hands.

"Could it be that Rabbit Spirit?" Portia wonders. "Metalia was the one who told you only the Golden Crystal could contain it…the Rabbit Spirit has been holding the demon back for a number of months now."

"At least six months that I'm aware of." Terrio says and sighs. "But I've never been able to catch them, and at this point if they're aligned with Ra's order…"

"Then they won't be on our side of this after Metalia is through." Portia surmises. "You need to get the crystal back – for Ronan or even for Terra as much as I dislike the prospect."

"Which requires knowing where this spirit will be ahead of time…and I hardly think patrolling all the skies next month shall do the trick…" Suddenly the lights in the room flicker. Portia gasps as the windows darken and Terrio grips the amulet around his neck until his knuckles ache. He rises from the table, glancing between Portia and the darkening windows. "Go, I'll deal with it."

Portia stands and leans across the table, pulling Terrio into a kiss. "Be careful what you say. It can clearly ferret out loopholes in that sealing spell." And she runs from the room, glancing back once to see her husband approaching the dark windows as red eyes peak open on the panes.

_Usurper_…

~_paxlunae~_

Serenity is awoken long after the hour candle has burned to a stub on the night stand by the violent rattling of the windows. She rolls out of bed and rushes to them, throwing open the curtains and then the panes, squinting as the wind buffets her face.

Her breath catches in her throat.

Without a single cloud obscuring the bright half circle of _Luna Dividua, _a large funnel is twisting out of the sky, swirling round and round and throwing up debris and bystanders as it tears through Elysium's streets.

She can just make out the pinpricks of the youma's red eyes – hundreds of their bodies spinning tight enough together to form the funnel cloud.

"Earth Power Make-Up!" She shouts as she launches from the window. Sailor Earth makes the leap across the Palace courtyard and over the wall in record time, unseen as all the guards' eyes are focused on the approaching cyclone. Rather than go immediately to the roofs, she takes to the streets, running down Palace Way and towards the funnel cloud, glancing all around for civilians. Eyes peak out of windows as she passes. Cheers follow her racing feet down the road. She runs until she stands before the bottom of the funnel cloud, kicking up cobblestones and spitting out blasts of plasma as trapped civilians are tossed about within it.

"Moonlight Blast!" Serenity shouts, sending the wave of force slicing into the bottom of the cloud. It dusts several Youma, but the rest are too fast, pulling out of the way of her attack. It does succeed in breaking the cyclone's hold on some civilians as they drop unceremoniously onto the street. A few manage to scramble back out of the way as she charges the cyclone, palm raised.

"Earth Rose Monsoon!" She says, eyes on the other trapped Hostages. Anything stronger will hurt them.

The swirl of Rose petals burns through the bottom of the cyclone, freeing more hostages from it's grasp. She dodges out of the way of a plasma blast as she runs right underneath the funnel. The remaining youma are still over a hundred strong, and high enough up to dodge her attacks. They spin at such speeds that bricks are flying out of the nearby buildings and windows are exploding outward towards the streets. The force of the wind knocks down several people stranded in the street and she ducks as a brick wizzes over her head.

But there is one more hostage being spun about high above. She trains her eyes on the unconscious old woman and jumps up into the whipping winds, spinning mid-jump to avoid a plasma blast as she catches the woman around the waist. She raises her sword arm. "Moonlight Blast!" All the youma now dive out of the way as she plummets through the hole in the funnel cloud. Her knees slam into the hard cobblestones as she protects the old woman from the inpact.

"Watch her," she snaps at two other rescued civilians before running off after the cloud. The youma have abandoned her, instead making their way towards the river and the docks, the funnel cloud expanding oncemore as it reaches for the ground. She gasps. _Are they creating new Youma?_ And runs towards it.

"Earth Thorn Hurricane!" She cries as she gets close. But the youma have reached the river, sucking the water into the cyclone. An arc of that water spins out from the cloud to deflect her attack as the cloud once more advances towards her. She ducks a flying brick just as a blast of plasma slams into her chest, pitching her backwards. Her teeth slam together as her head cracks against a building wall. She groans as she hauls herself up onto her knees.

The cyclone, reinforced by water and continuing to grow, has returned to the streets and the path she met it on, chasing down hostages as they try to flee.

_There are too many…_ She thinks. I have to…use more power.

"_There is an attack," Zinea had told her last month. "It's similar to what you did on Jupiter, wherein a Guardian draws on the power of her planet, or others. But rather than direct it to a specific purpose she'll let it loose as raw, explosive power._

"_Only those who are close to attaining the powers of Sailor Sol have ever managed it," The priestess had continued. "But given how quickly you learn…well in any case the theory goes…"_

Sailor Earth grits her teeth and stands up, bracing her hand against the wall as her eyes train on the cyclone. _I might only get one shot if I try it… _she thinks. She dismisses her sword, letting it disappear until called upon, and begins to run at the cyclone once more. She dodges left and right as the plasma blasts thrown at her increase, stubbing her feet on loose cobblestones as she goes. _Earth_, she thinks as she launches herself into the cyclone, letting herself be sucked up by the powerful youma. _I know I'm not in the Cloister of the Guardian…but I need you. Lend me your power as Jupiter did. _

She thinks she hears Tana's voice in her head as she raises both hands palms out. _As if you ever need to ask – this power is yours. _She feels the Golden Crystal grow hot within the locket over her chest as the immense power of the Earth fills her. The tenuous connection she has to Jupiter feeding power into her as well. _Go on, let it free_…

"Sailor…Planet…ATTACK!" she cries out, gasping as the power explodes out of her. It burns the youma instantaneously, racing along the shape of the cyclone disintegrating every creature in its path. The wind cuts out abruptly and she is suddenly flying backwards, thrown by the force of her attack and the rush air away from the cyclone. The power she's just channelled echoes in her, leaving her stunned as she tumbles through the air, straight into the unforgiving brick of a building. It cracks as she hits it, head snapping back against the stones. Her eyes slam shut she plummets forwards, falling onto an awning over the building's door.

"Ow." She whispers after several minutes collapsed on the awning. She lifts a gloved hand to her head to try to lessen the dizziness that overwhelms her as she squints her eyes open. Her veil passes through her fingers, shredded and pulled free over her face. She hastens to refasten it as well as she can.

_I think I'll wait to try that again, _she thinks as she sits up, slipping off the awning and stumbling as she hits the ground. _Perhaps I should listen when they tell me I'm not ready yet. _

She looks around until she spots the towers of the palace, bright grey in the moonlight. _I really hope I can skip breakfast tomorrow. _She thinks as she runs towards the Palace, hopping up atop a roof that will give her a more direct route than the streets. _I want to sleep until I can see straight at least_.

As she stumbles along the roof tops, she does not notice the man atop a neighboring building collapsing his golden telescope, stuffing it violently into his belt. He bares his teeth as his dark blue eyes follow the Guardian's retreat. _All this time…._

~_paxlunae~_

_How did I miss it_, Terrio thinks as he storms up the steps of the palace and through the doors without a single glance at the guards who hold them open for him. He takes the grand stairs up towards his rooms. _Portia will know what to do_. He thinks for what must be the thousandth time since he'd come down from that dingy roof in mid-town. _She can think us out of this. She can – _but his thought is cut off as the lamps in the entire hallway are extinguished. He freezes in place. One hand goes to the knife in his belt as another fumbles for the talisman he's been wearing constantly for weeks. "Metalia." He says to the darkness.

_Once again you have let that peasant destroy my soldiers_. She thunders as her notorious eyes hover before him in the pitch black hall. He shrinks away. _And you haven't even dispatched them_.

"They're Terra." He sputters. "I saw her. She's the Rabbit Spirit. I can reign her in –"

_You fool. _

"I can!" he insists, as the large red eyes bore into him. "She-she still does not remember. She thinks she is doing good, I can restrain her."

Impossible, Metalia's voice cuts through the hallway, cracking the windows. _False crystal and false amulet. False King, you have no true power. _

"f-false amulet." He chokes back a sudden laugh as his hand clenches tighter around the talisman at his neck. "This is the real thing. It still restains you."

_So _naïve, the demon hums. _Not that annoyance – you're petty memory charm._

The amulet he had found in Helios hut the day after the fog… "What?"

_I remember every mind I have ever touched, false King, for all their desperation fuels me. I have become strong with it. But your false bastard's mind is not one I have ever tasted._

"S-she remembers," he chokes.

_And she shall never listen to you. _The demon croaks. _Now, release more lands to me where I may gather energy with ease… Or I shall find out for myself whom the Guardian hates more – me, or her family's murderer. _

"I…" He stammers. "The lands I control are still a delicate matter."

_Decide quickly_. Metalia counters. _Or I shall release my control over the memory spell..an entire world will remember the deeds you've done. And if I do that…Your family won't see another morning. _Then she is gone, sucking the warmth of the Palace back into the hall. His knees shake as he turns into the wall and slams his fist into the stone.

_You have no real power…_

No…no that can't be true. Terrio shakes the stiffness out of his now ruined hand as he sets off at a frantic pace down the hall. He has power. He can maintain control…

_I need that crystal!_ He thinks as he takes the stairs two at a time. He bypasses the wing where he and Portia keep their suite in favour of the hall where his children sleep. His footsteps soften as he approaches the last door on the right and slowly turns the knob. It is locked. _Of course it is, _he thinks as he fumbles with his tunic, unfastening the pin on his left shoulder. He straightens the needle and jams it into the lock, gritting his teeth as he forces the tumblers into place. There! It clicks. He tosses the pin to the floor and pushes open the door. _Terra…_

With the light that shines in from the doorway and thanks to the many candles arund the room he trains his eyes on Terra, sprawled out across her bed, drooling unbecomingly across the pillow…and an unfamiliar lavender locket lying across her chest. _That's the crystal, _he thinks as he eases the door shut, walking up to the bed. He is reaching for the locket when he hesitates.

_She will never listen to you, _Metalia's voice crows in his head.

She'd already stolen the crystal once – and proved a more adept at using it. He braces his hand across the matress instead as his other hand releases the knife in his belt.

_She has become more dangerous to me than the demon_. He reasons. _Besides soon enough there will be a new Guardian of Mars if Metalia becomes too much. _He shifts his weight to put as much force behind the knife as possible as he raises it, lining it up over the sleeping Guardian's heart.

_Good riddance, Selen. _He drives the knife into Terra's chest.

The guardian chokes. The locket on her chest and the crescent on her forehead flare as a blistering wave of energy slams into him, sending him crashing into the wall. He looks down at the knife in his hand and sees the blade melted down, leaving him grasping the useless handle.

When he looks up, his eyes meet stunned amber ones as they stare at him across the room. Terra gapes, one hand clutching her chest as the other grips the sheets.

It is long seconds before she reacts. Her hand drifts to the locket, grabbing it tightly as she launches out of bed, running to the door and forcing it open with her shoulder. He pulls himself up after her to give chase, shouting as he runs out into the hall, the doors of all his children's rooms opening as he runs.

As he tries to bypass his children's questions and shouts for the guards to give chase, Terra is already out of the Palace on the bare back of a Juper horse, breaking right through the main gates and careening down Palace Way with one hand clutching the Golden Crystal to her chest, covering the red scratch over her heart…

~_À Suivre_~


	16. Romula & Rema

AN: I'm ALIIIIIVE! :D Finally settled in to life in Prague and wrapping up Teacher Boot Camp next week. So expect more regular updates to resume. I'm talking biweekly schedule again (except for shorter chapters which post weekly). I still aim to wrap up _Pax_ in November, but stick around, the Sailorverse plotbunnies have plenty more ideas I want to type out! Enjoy this chapter and I will have the next one for you in a week or two…

Disclaimer: Blah blah blah. Not mine. Lets get on with this.

Last Time On Pax: Tensions came to a head in Elysium when the Rabbit Spirit's identity was revealed to King Terrio. With the threat of Metalia looming over his throne, he attempted to kill Serenity, only to be stopped by a sudden burst of magic. Now Serenity has fled the palace and both she and the King are seeking answers.

Romula &amp; Rema

It's well past dark when Helios hears the dungeon door slam open and heavy boots advancing on his cell. A guard runs up to unlock his door as he stands up off the ground – always better to face your jailers standing on your feet. But as he's standing his guard is pushed aside and the cell door is wrenched open. A tall silhouette storms into his cell and grabs him by the collar of his dirty robes, shoving him up against the wall.

"I can't kill her!" the man spits in his face. _King Terrio_, he recognizes. The memory of that man is one of his first after the fog.

"Can't kill whom?" Helios gasps.

"Don't play the fool with me," Terrio snaps. "I know you must remember some things. Why can't I kill the Guardian?"

His eyes widen. A grin spreads over his face. "You tried to kill Serenity," he wheezes as the hand constricts at his throat.

But it's the wrong thing to say. Terrio's deep blue eyes narrow as they stare into his. "You…remember her name," he growls.

Helios gulps. He has been remembering more and more since Serenity had come down to visit him the first month of his imprisonment. "Uh," he tries to think of a response, but Terrio slams him harder into the wall, making his ears ring.

"Was it all a lie!" he thunders. "Where is that damned amulet."

_Amulet, _he thinks as he tries to focus around the hand at his throat. _The green one for memory protection. _"I didn't have it," he says. "Perhaps she did."

As he says it, the memory comes to him, _his clammy hands ripping the amulet from his neck and throwing it around Serenity's. _His eyes widen. _I never tried to kill her! _he understands as that last nagging question about the night he lost his memory is answered _I saved her!_

Terrio's hand constricts tighter around his throat. "I'm sure you remember enough. Answer my question."

"It is," he wheezes "bad luck to kill –" but Terrio slams him harder into the wall, making his ears ring.

"You've told this before – years ago," he spits. "I care nothing for luck. I have already tried to kill her. It did not work!" Something clangs as it's thrown on the floor of his cell. Helios glances down. The ruined handle of a knife rolls across the cold floor, coated in blackened, melted steel. "Something _unlucky_ did that," Terrio says. "And you had better remember why."

spots are beginning to cloud his vision as he struggles to breathe. "I-rem-ber" he mouths and gasps as Terrio releases him. He crashes to the floor rubbing his throat.

"Speak!" Terrio demands. "I still have your son."

"No need to bring Phaeton into this," Helios shakes his head, slumping back against the wall. "Serenity has fled then?" he persists, despite his situation a smirk is tugging at his lips.

"Do not mock me," Terrio spits.

"What happened, out of curiosity?"

"I tried to kill her," the Usurper repeats through gritted teeth. Both hands are in fists by his sides. "There was a flash. I was thrown back. That," he kicks the ruined knife with his boot, "was destroyed. She escaped without a wound."

"Fascinating," Helios murmurs. "We had no accounts, you see, of how the magic fares in practice. I believe the Uranians tested it at the beginning of Ceilhee's reign as the Guardian, but… well as you'd expect there are no records of their attempt."

"What is the magic?" Terrio demands.

"Tell me," Helios continues as though he is not being threatened. He may as well enjoy the small power of knowledge. "Has your crown been burning?"

Terrio's hand goes at once to his head and jerks away quickly. "The jewel is hot."

"As I would expect," Helios says. "Curses, historically, bind well to ordinary gemstones. It's amazing how the Martians came upon the idea."

"The crown is cursed!" Terrio splutters, spit spraying in Helios face. "Which idiot Selen let that happen."

Helios bites back a smile. "A wise one, and in agreement with all 8 other rulers. It's one of the only acts they've ever unanimously agreed to." He holds up his hands as Terrio advances on him again. "It is a shame you alienated so many priests and planets," he throws in. "Anyone could have told you about the last Guardian of Mars…"

~_paxlunae~_

_It all began a year to the day Tana of Earth passed, _Helios begins._ The planet of Mars was in revelry. For on that day, their Soluto and Soluta had announced the birth of a child – sure to be a champion – after 200 years without an heir in their family. Now of course, the throne isn't traditionally a hereditary post on the Red World, however, strong royals tend to have strong children and they, in turn, have good odds of winning the throne when it's time to select the next rulers._

_But I'm sure that doesn't particularly matter to you. Anyways, these royals were well liked, and their announcement brought the clans of Mars together in uncharacteristically united celebration. Such well respected rulers deserved an heir especially after so long with out them and this celebration was doubly so, for the rulers had announced their daughter to be the next Guardian – she had a striking birthmark on her forehead – a red circle. Many say it was the color of the planet's skies. _

_I digress, they named her Romula, and from the day of her birth she was raised knowing she would do great things. For the Guardianship is an incredible honor._

_She learned weaponry even younger than Serenity and was on a horse from the time she could walk. By the age of seven, when many Guardians' magical training begins, she was holding her own with most weapons against fully trained warriors. Her parents couldn't have been prouder._

_It was a bit worrying to the Soluto and Soluta – and the Father and Mother Priest – that she seemed to have no grasp of the Guardian's magic. But the Soluto, her father, insisted she just needed a bit more time…_

~_paxlunae_~

"Drink up," Asha insists as she puts a mug of tea into Serenity's hands. She then settles into the empty chair in the temple guest room. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Serenity says, staring at the scratch that peeks above the neckline of her dressing gown. "It didn't hurt."

"Well we're all thankful for that." Zinea says. "We knew the King could never kill you but the effects of any attempt on your life were unclear. It's good to know the magic seems so effective."

"So it was the Golden Crystal that protected me?" Serenity concludes, but Zinea frowns as she and Asha trade startled looks.

"That's right, Helios wouldn't have told you – likely so that Terrio would not know of it either."

"It was not the Golden Crystal's magic," Zinea says gently, raising both hands before her and sitting up straighter in her chair. "It was, actually, a curse on crown jewels."

"Curse,"

"Benevolent in nature," Asha assures her. "But it was designed with the principles of a curse in mind. You see, the Martian Veneficii – we would call them Warlocks – have always made a deep study of the darker magics and none more so than Romula…"

"Was she a Guardian?" Serenity asks, sipping her tea.

"No," Zinea smiles sadly, "But that is the start of the whole dark tale."

~_paxlunae_~

_You see – _Zinea says as she begins to move her hands as she speaks, settling into the story – _everyone assumed Romula's birthmark designated her as The Guardian. But the Father and Mother Priests of Mars began to doubt as Romula approached the age of ten. There were no detailed records kept then of old guardians, but they knew that Tana of Earth had begun having dreams at five, could produce magic by age eight…_

_Romula was a fighting prodigy, but she could not even sense the Guardian's powers within her, not even after extensive meditation in front of Mars' great fire. In fact, the flames did not seem to react to her at all._

_So the two of them sent a message out to all the members of their order: If they found a child with unusual magic or dreams, to send them along to the capital. They did not say more than that. Had word reached Mars heavily divided clans that they were looking for the Guardian, fighting surely would have broken out over which group was hiding the child._

_It was by chance that one Priest in a very rural province of the planet happened to wander up into the hills one day and observe a small shepherd's child minding the sheep. He found it curious because he had observed many shepherds through the Province that year and all had seemed to be wrestling with an unusually high number of predators. And yet this child's flock seemed unaffected. It was larger than any herd he'd observed in recent weeks and even had a dozen or so growing lambs idling away from the protection of the adult members of the herd. So he approached the child minding the flock, curious to see how they had kept their flock so well._

_The child, he was stunned to see, was perhaps six years in age, and quite a small girl at that. When he asked how she had kept the herd so well she shrugged and gave her sling shot a practice swing. No sheep eater dared go against her._

_It was when he knelt to her level that he saw the birthmark obscured by her hat and her long black hair. It was a red arrow – brighter than any normal birthmark. The stories go that at first he thought it was a wound. But the small girl merely shrugged away his questions: She'd been born with the mark. Her parents thought it meant she might be a wonderful archer if only they could pay a skilled craftsman to carve her a bow. But she had been lingering around a nearby town on days they went to the market and was learning to carve her own. And her slingshot worked just fine she said. And she pointed across the pasture to where the trees began. "A sheep eater came through earlier," she said "And I swung a big rock at it and told it to leave. And they never come back."_

_The Priest's eyes widened as he took in the tree she pointed at. A sizeable dent had fractured through the layers of wood, and the crater was blackened and charred as if fire had burned it._

_It was only days later that a young man was hired by the Priest to guard the girl's flock, and that the Priest received permission to present the girl to the Palace. He thought, as you've rightly assumed by now, that the mark on her forehead might be far more than an omen of her fighting prowess._

~_paxlunae_~

_It was actually quite terrible timing how it all came out, _Helios tells Terrio,_ just days away from Romula's tenth birthday, a Priest and his charge requested an audience with the Royals and the Mother and Father priests. The Princess and her parents were hoping that perhaps Romula might start to exhibit real signs of having the Guardian's magic now that she required less time to learn the fighting arts. They were insistent – and so was Romula – that she would be a full Guardian in time._

_Romula was present when the country Priest ushered his shy charge into the grand throne room, and she was quite curious when the Father Priest requested she leave the room. Her parents denied the request – surely the next guardian of Mars could hear any peasant's troubles no matter how horrific._

_But, the country priest said, it was not troubles he came to share. He ushered the young girl out from behind him. There had been some confusion. For this girl too appeared to have a mark of a Guardian, and had some control of magic as well, he said. And the priest explained as the small girl shifted from foot to foot beside him, how her flock of sheep had been protected from attack by what he later confirmed was powerful magic – unseen and easy for even a beginner to enact if only their will was strong enough._

_Through the tale, Romula's face had gotten nearly as red as the plain birthmark on her own forehead, and she stood from her small throne beside her parents and demanded the priest prove it – surely another birthmark and magic alone could not prove anything._

_So the Saluto and Saluta conferred and allowed both girls to sit before the Great Fire, protected within the centremost of the Palace's courtyards. No sooner had the girls been ushered outside than the Fire roared up higher than they had ever seen it. It's flames turned a striking red and glowed bright lavender at the heart._

_Romula stepped forward with her hand out, only to jerk back as the flame burnt her. She looked over at the small peasant girl, who had a strange look on her face, and watched as the six year old held her own hand to the flames and kept it there, it's light glowed in her black eyes. She looked about and saw her parent's nodding along with the three priests and felt her face burn with shame. The little girl withdrew her hand, unharmed from the fire and looked at Romula and the gathered adults._

"_My name is Rema," she said in a low voice, eyes still glowing with the fire's light. "And I am the next Guardian of Sol."_

_Overnight, Romula's prestige and title were stripped from her, and no amount of messengers insisting she had been protecting Rema's identity could stop the rumors from spreading, the Salutii daughter was no Guardian, she was just an ordinary fool._

~_paxlunae_~

_Rema took to the role of Guardian, _Zinea continues, _ with a grace that Romula grew to envy even as the two of them spent enough time together in fighting lessons to be closer than sisters. The people of the Red World thought it was glorious: the Guardian and her royal Right Hand. Rema proved just as adept with a bow and arrow as Romula from the start and her skill with a sword and axe grew at a staggering pace. By the time she was ten herself and Romula 14, they had successfully put down five uprisings and defeated one invasive creature from beyond the Solar System. And Rema adored Romula, looked up to her in all forms of fighting and could not wait to show her whenever she mastered a new magic trick._

_There was, everyone says, never a kinder Guardian than her, and never a more trusting one. She brought joy to each world she visited and peace after each conflict she quelled. And all thought her brilliant. She mastered the transformation into Sailor Mars at only 12._

_And Rema fit well with the royal family despite a rocky start. The Saluta doted on her. The Saluto afforded her great respect. And Romula, though reluctant, grew into the role of being her mentor. She tried always to stay one step ahead of Rema in fighting practice, and to know more than she ever could about magical theories. She and Rema got on so well that when Rema's parents died in a plague, the Saluto and Saluta thought it natural to adopt her as their own. After all, it was good for children to have siblings to compete with. They hoped it would draw their daughters closer._

~_paxlunae_~

_It was the wrong move, _Helios says as he shakes his head. _Romula had been exploring the black arts practiced by the Veneficii since Rema had achieved her transformation for the first time. But now having to share her parents with the girl pushed her to dive even deeper into magical study. She felt the need to prove that whether she was the Guardian or not she was still a powerful champion for her world. And she became proficient in the arts as well, practicing them at night away from her parents and sister's eyes. They did not approve of the magic, you see. As it had a tendency of turning out magic users with questionable morals. _

_At one point she did approach her father about them, around the time her tutor in the arts proclaimed her a proficient spell crafter. She wanted permission to study them formally, you see, reclaim her place as Mars Champion. But her father said they were unpredictable magics. It would not do to delve into them when they had Rema to rely on._

_Romula's envy of Rema was, by this point, evolving into a toxic sort of anger at the girl who had taken her place. And as she approached her 16__th__ birthday – the age Martians consider their children adults, she elected to live away from the Palace, and continued an intensive study of the Veneficii_ _magic_.

~_paxlunae_~

_Two years after Romula had put some distance between herself and her family, _Zinea says_, Rema suffered her first and only defeat against an enemy. She lost control of her transformation in the middle of a battle, and it was only the quick thinking of battalion fighting alongside her that saved her life. She did not wake for three days and although the enemy retreated, the Red World's confidence in their invincible Guardian was severely damaged._

_So when Romula returned to the Palace within the week and apologized for her absence, impressing her father with magic she's worked hard to perfect and a book of spells of her own design built to defend the planet, she was graciously welcomed back. After all, the Guardian clearly needed the support of her sister._

~_paxlunae_~

"You seem disbelieving." Helios observes as the King shakes his head across from the imprisoned priest. Terrio snorts.

"It is terribly convenient," he says, "that this Romula emerged from the woodwork a master of magic at the same time as the Guardian's powers publicly faltered."

"Indeed," Helios agrees. "It's long been known that she cursed Rema's powers to fail, with no one the wiser. You see, it was imperative that she show her parents that she was needed to support the Guardian. How else was she to gain back the title of the Sol System's champion."

"She wasn't the Guardian though. Even with the Golden Crystal, no one on our world can ever match Serenity," Terrio scoffs.

"All true. But Romula always believed in hardwork outmatching any magic. By the time she returned to the Palace at 18, birthright did not seem such an…insurmountable obstacle."

"She tried to kill Rema," Terrio guesses. "And all the planets got together with the damn Guardian and made it impossible for anyone else to kill them."

"Unfortunately," Helios murmurs, "it happened to carry on much differently."

~_paxlunae_~

_You forget, _Helios goes on, _that unlike yourself and the Selens, Romula and Rema had grown up as sisters. And while she was full of anger and jealousy, Romula could never truly bring herself to hate the girl. But she also found it entirely unjust that Rema ended up the Guardian and not her. Especially as she believed she worked so much harder. Surely, with the Guardian's magic, she'd be ten times the Guardian Rema was. Evil wouldn't even dare invade Sol at all._

_She had spent two years designing the curse. She had practiced it on other Veneficii and was sure that it worked – for she had absorbed their powers unharmed and was now powerful enough that she felt sure she could adapt the spell to absorb Rema's magic._

_When she was 19 and Rema was 14 she lured the Guardian away from the city on a riding trip, and brought her to the place Romula had called home for two years – a secluded Cabin beside one of Mars most active lava flows. It was fully of magical energy from the planet's core. Romula insisted it made her stronger than the Great Fire in the Palace ever had, and Rema surely had to see the place._

_It was easy for her, once there, to magic Rema unconscious, easy enough to set up the ritual as she had performed it many times. She had already set the curse into motion by the time Rema woke up._

~_paxlunae_~

_It must have been terrifying. That poor girl – waking up to have her magic ripped from her._

_Your Guardian magic, _Zinea explains, _is so much different than anything the Earthling Magae and the Martian Veneficii could imagine. Romula was so foolish to try._

_You see, the black magic she had been tapping into came from so much practice tapping into the magic that filled her world. Taking it from other Veneficii did not harm them, it only severed their connection to the magic they had harnessed and transferred it to her._

_A Guardian's magic though comes from their soul. And unlike Earth, Mars Guardians had never separated the magical part of their soul from the rest. So Romula's spell tore Rema apart trying to get to that magic…_

_It was over too quickly for Romula to stop, they say. By the time she managed to reverse the magic, it had already dragged Rema's soul from her body and of course without that…_

_The princess of Mars held Rema's soul crystal in her hands and watched as without it, the Guardian's body disintegrated, dust carried up into the sky. And she held the last piece of Rema in her hands as it too crumbled to ash between her fingers._

_No one knows the last words that were said between them, but all knew by morning what had occurred. A dark cloud cover swallowed the Red World, entrapping it in angry black clouds and lightning and thunder that seemed to shake the ground beneath it. It rained on the Red World for over 5 years._

_They say, and I believe, that it was not the Red World's pain, but Romula's own grief that brought on that storm._

_And the storm was not the only thing brought on by Rema's murder. You know, I'm sure, that when a Guardian dies, they use the last of their will and power to create a protective barrier around Sol, meant to keep out the worse of invaders until their successor comes of age…_

_It was likely the trauma of her death that prevented Rema from enacting that same magic. Or perhaps it was that her soul and the magic that was bound to it had scattered through the cosmos, unable to affect anything until they were brought together again._

_In any case, no such protection was there after Rema's death, and no Guardian was born to Jupiter of over 100 years. In that time, the Dark Century, as it's called. Sol was bombarded by those looking to take advantage of its people and its power._

_Romula threw herself into the fight, she did not return to her world in the entire time the Guardian was missing. She fought constantly against invaders in the Guardian's steed though few ever saw her._

_And she was not enough by any means. No world's armies were enough. As the century wore on and Sol became consumed by more battles and more outsiders coveting it's power, whole worlds fell in it's defense. Pluto and Venus have never recovered from the onslaughter. And it was the only time in history that Uranus sent its women to the front lines. The first time in memory they and the Jupers ever agreed on anything at all…_

_The birth of the next guardian was a brief celebration amid all the fighting. And Jupiter sent over half it's population into the fight in the years that followed as pressure mounted to see the new Guardian fight. They were needed, all the planets insisted. They were needed desperately, and not even powerful Jupiter could brandish enough power to deny the pleas of the other worlds. _

_They're Guardian was Diane. The youngest child ever to transform as the Guardian. But this was only due to intensive training. She had no choice, no childhood of any kind. She was sent into battle as soon as she could transform – at no older than six years old._

_She defeated the darkness that had consumed Sol – and died for the effort. The magic was still too much for her to control. But her training had paid off. The magical protection around the Sol system stabilized, but her death – so young and so unnecessary. Her mother Valla was livid and made it quite plain – this should never have had to occur._

~_paxlunae_~

_Romula reached out to Valla herself, _Helios concludes, _taking up custody of the Martian throne after her parents and their successors died during the Dark Century. And between the two of them they brought the rulers of all the worlds together. None wanted to see the fate of the last two Guardians happen again – especially not for the price they had paid. _

_Romula crafted the Curse of the Crowns when the nine rulers met. With the aid of each world's priests and under the intense scrutiny of Valla and the other rulers, she accepted the responsibility of protecting all the future Guardians. She poured everything she had into binding each world's powers to the agreement – that magic would forbid all future rulers from harming the Guardians._

~_paxlunae_~

"How could they do that without the Guardian though?" Serenity whispers. "I don't know much of Mars….but no Earth mage could do that and survive."

Zinea nods, eyes falling to the floor. "It was a more impressive feat of magic than any have ever seen. Romula bound her own magic to the royal objects of each world, and continued by binding not only her own magic, but the magic of all the worlds into that spell – so that long after her power weakened the protection over the Guardians would remain."

"But…how?" Serenity insists, though the look on Zinea's face answers before the woman herself.

"The spell killed her. She collapsed as soon as the magic had bound to the stones. Records say her last words were a plea that they destroy her spells."

Serenity studies the last dregs of her tea, the cup now cool between her hands. "It feels so strange..."

"What?"

"I feel like they're my own sisters…Rema and Diane…And I'm alive because both of them died so awfully…and Romula as well."

"Then let your life be the good that came out of their whole tragic tale," Asha says from where she's been sitting quietly to the side. "It is because of their fate that you're alive now, and finally free of Terrio's control."

"You'll not have to be Terra any longer." Zinea smiles. "And however you decide to handle the royals and this world's future, you'll be safe behind these walls."

Serenity nods, rubbing away the tears that hadgathered in her eyes as the story wore on. "Could someone fetch Cornelia…I'm sure she'll be the first person Terrio will go after if he seeks to control me."

"Farah is actually out fetching her as we speak," Asha assures her. "Would you like anymore tea."

"No," the Guardian sighs. "But could I go out to the Cloister to meditate… I need to figure out how to prepare for more of the demon's attacks."

Zinea and Asha trade glances. "The next Novilunium is weeks away," Zinea says.

Serenity frowns, standing up from the bed and setting the tea cup aside. "Yes, but she attacked without any warning last night. And I've a feeling Terrio's the cause. How else would he have found out I was the Guardian unless he watched for and planned that attack?"

"I know he's dangerous, My Lady," Zinea says. "But surely you don't think he would see you as more of a threat than the demon?"

Serenity looks at Asha then, seeing the dark shadows under the Priestess eyes that let her know perhaps the Mother has lost sleep over this very idea. "I think…that he sent the Forgetful Fog and the demons and has been from the start. And it's just too much of a coincidence. Queen Hippolyte would think it too much of a coincidence as well."

"And the King has none of Romula's moral compass," Asha adds. "You're right we should prepare for him to draw closer to the demon's powers."

Serenity nods. "And I'd like to stay within the temple grounds when at all possible," she adds. "At least until I can reason with him. I do want to prevent a war with Terrio whatever it takes," she says as she walks out of the guestroom towards the Cloister of the Guardian.

"She's so hopeful," Zinea sighs. "How can she still insist there's an easy solution to Terrio's mess."

Asha only smiles. "You forget she's barely Farah's age – and that girl still has plenty of hope in her."

"And us?" Zinea asks.

"Perhaps…" Asha considers, playing with the thin wisps of grey in her hair. "We need to relearn hope for ourselves."

~_paxlunae_~

_Two days later…_

"Nothing," Terrio rages. "Not a damned thing on the woman. No spells, no biographies, and nothing about her Grimoire for certain. He kicks off his boots and collapses onto the lounge in the study. "That wretched priest fed me a tale."

"Helio is still too addled to spin tales." Portia says cooly from the desk chair, nose deep in a yellowing old parchment scroll. "I must applaud the work of those royals though. No mention of Romula or her spell or even the Dark Century… clearly no one from that era wanted the situation to repeat."

"Well they never foresaw the situation I'm in then," Terrio sighs, putting a hand over his face. "I've a demon on one side and a Guardian on the other and should they work together it's more than just the peace we've built that will be doomed."

"Serenity isn't the vengeful type," Portia points out. "And like as not she's holed up with the Priestesses far from Metalia's influence."

"For now."

Portia is about to reply that he can help her with the research if he's going to complain, when the dark fireplace suddenly blazes with bright blue flames. She jumps up, knocking over the study chair as Terrio rushes to draw the grate across the flames.

But as he reachs for the protective covering, the fire extinguishes, leaving barely charred wood behind...and a slip of paper, completely untouched by the fire. He squinted to read the strangely drawn calligraphy.

_Meet our horse at your southern pole at exactly 19:00 in a week's time. Send only one man. Be prepared to conference once the parcel is received. __– )+(_

~_À Suivre_~


	17. The Seeds of Discord

AN: 2 weeks have passed…it is now like 3 and a half weeks. I am all moved in to my place and (as you can tell because the chapter is now online) I got Wifi installed finally. (Yay Wifi!). And I HAVE MISSED WRITING SO MUCH. I have been so busy. You have no idea. If only it were viable in life to quit your job to write fic. I think that's called being an author. I should work on that. XD

Disclaimer: Oh we all know by now this is just a hobby for me. There is no money to sue for in any case…

Last Time On Pax: The jig is up for King Terrio. He has lost control of Metalia and now knows that thanks to a historic curse on the crown, he will never succeed in killing Serenity. All that's left for him is a strange message asking him to pick up a package at Earth's southern pole, through which he desperately hopes to find solutions to his problems. Meanwhile, with no more need to hide, Serenity is out in the open using her real name and fighting Metalia. And the people of Earth? Well, they're beginning to notice…

The Seeds of Discord

_Mense Longae Noctis_

The southern pole was nearly an eight hour flight for the average Pegasus in Elysium's stables. But the Juper horse made the same journey in an hour's time without so much as a drop of sweat soaking through its hide.

_In fact,_ Terrio thinks, as Augusto dismounts the towering beast with a rectangular package under his arm, _that mare might actually have been taking her time_.

"I didn't even see them!" his eldest son grumbles. "They just flew right overhead – not even sure they were on a horse – and dropped this on my head." He presents the package to Terrio. The same strange "H" from the note has been inked onto the thick parchment wrapping. Thanks to Portia, he now has an inkling whose symbol it might be. "It's heavy," Augusto continues to complain as he holds it up. "Can I open it now?"

Terrio shakes his head and beckons his son inside, putting a finger to his lips. It will not do for the servants to hear any of this. _Especially not when those who sent this have gone to such pains to conceal their involvement_.

~_paxlunae_~

It's a mirror, they discover once the King and Augusto are safe from prying servants behind the locked doors of the royal study. Portia scrutinises it from behind the King's chair.

"Hasn't it got to do something?" Augusto remarks dryly.

"Try tapping that," Portia says, pointing to the symbol engraved along the top of the silver frame. It's the same mysterious "H" from the note and the wrapping. Terrio reaches out and presses his finger to the symbol, flinching back when it lights up. The mirror begins to cloud and swirls of colour filter through the glass, until a new image replaces their reflections.

"Usurper," a deep voice says as the cloudy image stabilises. A tall man surveys them from within the mirror, his hands steepled before him. "At last I make your acquaintance." He nods towards Augusto. "And this is your heir."

"Augusto," Terrio introduces his son, his mouth is dry as he takes in the man's deep blue robes, trimmed in grey fur, and the low hanging crown that adorns his head, covering silver-blond hair. He glances at Portia. Her guess to the symbol's origin, it seems, is right. "It's a pleasure to be acquainted with you, Your Majesty." He tells the King of Uranus. "And this is my wife – Portia."

The King barely nods and, as though this holds no interest to him, directs his gaze away from the mirror. "Boy," he directs at someone out of sight, "come closer and greet your fellow leaders."

A tall teenager appears beside the King's chair, clad in the same formal robes. _The kind of clothes I'd wear on important business_, Terrio realises, and hopes his own more homely tunic does not give the foreign King a bad impression.

"Greetings, Royal cousins," the teenage boy bows deeply to Terrio and slightly towards Augusto. "My name is Cronus, I petitioned my father to send the mirror to you."

"Indeed," the King says, resuming command of the conversation. "Rumour abounds that your guardian has fallen out of favour with you."

Terrio clenches his fists below the desk. "I was unaware that there were enchantments preventing me from disposing of her."

The king shakes his head. "You fool. Of course there are. Why else did my people have to suffer our own turn as the guardian's hosts some few thousand years ago."

Terrio frowns. "You don't like…the guardian? Forgive me, cousin. But Serenity's lineage aside, I'd say their powers are quite useful."

"Oh in general they're a fabulous idea, but that kind of power in a woman's hands puts our society ill at ease. Guardians are…independent, after the enchantment was put in place the role fell to our Princess – quite insufferable. Thank goodness she never couped for the throne." He shakes his head, "It shall be even worse if their power is given to one of our peasants. Guardians, as you well know, obstruct order. They're well and good to the defence of our worlds, but Uranus prefers their duty does not complicate our own traditions."

He felt Portia's hand tighten on his shoulder and realised now the reason he had heard so little about Uranus past guardians. "And the enchantment now… means you must deal with the guardian whenever their tenure falls on your world."

"Precisely," the King sighs. "The most damaging agreement in Uranian history – We hoped we might collaborate on a way to reverse the enchantment – since it is not in Earth's interests for it to remain in place."

His eyes light up. "Has your world done any research?" he asks, leaning towards the mirror.

The king nods. "Our world has none of the magic blessed to you and the Martians. And our chapter of Ra's order is, shall we say, reticent to assist us." He waves towards Prince Cronus "but my son has traveled to Mars himself in search of Romula's Grimoire – We know the Martians never truly destroyed it. We're hoping her work on the enchantment is preserved within it. Cronus is well versed in their magical theories – but we have no guide by which to search." His grey eyes narrow "I'm hoping your own experience with magic can be of assistance."

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn," Portia interrupts, bowing very low to the man in the mirror. And then, startlingly, to Terrio. "May I answer, My King."

It takes until she glares at him for Terrio to realise she's actually seeking his permission. "Uhh, yes. Yes, go on."

Portia then does something very strange: lowering her chin so that she speaks towards the ground, she addresses the Uranian royals. "At my own King's behest, I have made a detailed study of Earth's old magics. I know not how similar they are to Mars…"

"History says they're quite compatible," The King says, though he looks at Terrio rather than Portia.

"From what I know of Earth's own magic…spells of the caliber recorded in Romula's grimoire would likely be sealed below ground if they were preserved."

"That is not news to us," Cronus snaps, "we have scoured Mars surface with detectors in search of protected chambers."

"Forgive me," Portia bows once more. "In the case of Romula's spells…what would it take for her to hide them from her own successors?"

"Oh a considerable amount of work." Uranus says, looking at his son. "She would have to hide them from all the clans who vie for control each generation."

"There is, at present, very little unclaimed territory on the Martian surface," Cronus huffs. "And my agents and I have searched all of it – Including their thrice be damned canyons."

"Our royals…many of their spells are housed out of the reach of any ordinary citizen." She glances at Terrio as he picks up on what she is referring to.

"Selen kept copies of his most useful spells and books in an archive on our moon." Terrio tells the Uranian king. "Does Mars have any…similar structures?"

"Phoebos and Deimos are no places to hold magic," Cronus scoffs. "They're the most unremarkable and useless chunks of rock I've ever seen. They're so small and ridden with craters there's not a single structure on their surfaces."

"What about below the ground?" The King asks his son.

"I don't think the most powerful venefica in history would have risked her most powerful spells to the whims of stray asteroids," Cronus says.

"There's enchantments that protect such things from harm," Terrio says. "Why, Selen used them on our own moon base."

Cronus eyes widen. "How ever do you protect such structures indefinitely?" he asks.

"There are… ah…" he glances at Portia who's head is still bowed.  
"keystones," she murmurs.

"Keystones – they are anchors for the magic…for instance quartz crystals are used around our palace because their uh...spell life is higher than most other stones."

Prince Cronus pulls a notebook from his pocket, surveying his own notes. "I had thought this was a quality possessed naturally by some of Mars stones." He said, skimming through the pages. "Excuse me." He bows and leaves the mirror's frame.

"I believe that is exactly the information we needed," the King says. "We shall require your help to reverse the enchantment itself…"

"And then I shall be free of Serenity?"

"If you collaborate with us, yes." The King nods. "I'll be in touch."

And the image in the mirror darkens, fading to the ordinary reflections of Terrio and his family.

"Romula's Grimoire…" Portia whispers. "That has far more use than aiding an assassination."

"What are you thinking?" Terrio asks.

"That…Martians deal in dark magic every day…there could be a spell in there that helps us control Metalia."

Terrio's hand goes to the amulet he now keeps constantly around his neck. "Then we need to get it from them."

Portia nods. "We could do away with both of our problems at once."

~_paxlunae_~

_The youma are weaker this month, _Serenity thinks as she corrals the last of them into Elysium's largest square. _I wonder if that means this Metalia demon is weaker as well. _She had finally learned the demon's name in a dream of Tana. Putting a name to the evil did not put her any more at ease.

"Moonlight Blast!" she shouts, slicing her sword through the air. Golden power slices the last gaggle of youma to bits and their ashes drift benignly through the freezing winter air. She lands on the cobblestones amid cheers from the small crowd of civilians. Some, she has just rescued. But far more people have come to watch.

Her eyes zero in on an older woman who is slumped against a brick wall. The green glow lingering around her shows she's been hit by one of the plasma blasts.

Serenity walks up to the woman and holds one hand palm out while she raises her sword. "Do not be afraid," she says and lowers the sword to the woman's shoulder as though knighting her. "Moonlight Healing Purge," she whispers.

Golden power surges through her sword and into the elderly woman who's eyes spring open as it washes away the paralysing dark magic afflicting her. She slowly gets to her feet, staring at Serenity. Her hand shakes as it pushes wisps of grey hair out of her eyes.

"I am…H-Honora," she stammers.

Serenity bows slightly, aware of the eyes of the crowd watching her veil-less face. "I am the guardian Ter-" she pauses and takes a breath, straightening up and speaking to all the onlookers. "My name is Serenity Selen." She says clearly. "I am the Rabbit Spirit…I was ward to the King. Now I shall make sure this planet is safe from the Youma."

"And the fog?" the old woman queries.

Serenity meets her eyes as well as those of as many others in the square as she can manage. "It shall never trouble you again." She says, and notes the many windows and doors opening in the streets as people peer out to see her.

_I should go_ she thinks, unused to the attention. She dismisses Moonlight from her hand, ignoring the gasps as the onlookers watch it disappear, and leaps up onto a nearby roof, running towards the sanctuary of the temple.

She misses the old woman muttering to herself and garnering the attention of the growing crowd. "Selen," she repeats again, as though the name should mean something to her. "Selen…" it is an old name, she thinks. She hasn't heard it in years. Somehow it is important…from before the fog.

"_Quickly!" her neighbor had banged down the door of her room. "Honora – the castle's ablaze! They're saying the Selen's are dead!"_

She jerks her head up towards the roofs as she remembers. "By Ra," she says, beckoning the crowd closer. "I remember – she's a Selen. A _Selen_!"

"What is a Selen?" her son asks as he pushes to the front of the crowd.

"Has the fog really made me forget for seventeen years?" she says to herself. "Come here all of you – I _remember_!"

_Mense Lupus_

It is a month of relative quiet until, two days before Novilunium, Serenity is summoned to the Mother's private study. She's surprised to see alongside Mother and Zinea is the old woman she had healed last month a young man beside her. The young man is familiar.

"I know you," she says, cocking her head to the side.

"You healed me several moons ago, your Guardianship." He says, and they both bow to her as though she were the king. "And I remembered my name for the first time in years."

"And I remembered much more," the old woman – Honora – "I never knew how much I'd forgotten."

"My magic can restore memories…" she murmurs, "all this time?"

"Had we known you we'd have come to thank you much sooner." The young man assures her. "We're hoping now you can do it on purpose. I lived out in the streets for years. I've lots of friends without their names still living the same." And he pulls the curtain back from the window. She sees, out into the courtyard, a crowd of nearly fifty people milling about. Many are haggard and dirty. Some fidget. Others stand patiently, their faces turned towards the window.

Her hand reaches up for the locket around her neck. Transformation phrase already on her lips. At once she is Sailor Earth standing before her people and Moonlight is already in her hand. She grins and gives it a swing for show. "Let them in," she asks the Mother. "And maybe sent word – any others that had their memories stolen come here. I'll heal all of them." _And I can heal Helios as well!_ She thinks, _finally I can banish all of Metalia from this city._

~_paxlunae_~

Terrio has heard hide nor hare of Serenity in months – past Metalia's rages – fewer and fewer now – about her lack of access to human energy. He's nearly decided to leave Serenity to her own devices on the night he's returning from a late-night tea in the kitchens. He opts to use the servants' stairs – a route he takes more often than he will ever admit lest he be viewed once more as a commoner.

It is as he is turning away from the second floor landing that he sees a light flickering under a door. _Curious..I told them no canoodling in the closets. _Grinning – he loves catching the prettier servants in compromising trysts – he approaches the door. His slippers muffle his footfalls.

But there are none of the telltale moans and giggles leaking under the doorframe…only barely audible whispers. Frowning, Terrio leans in towards the keyhole.

"I tell yah, we were fogged – all of us – years back," say's a servant's voice he doesn't recognize. "Listen here, the Guardian healed me up this week. And I remember them – the Selens."

He freezes, hand jerking to a stop halfway to the door knob. He continues to listen as his own long buried deeds are voiced clearly through the doors. "Go to the temple," the unfamiliar servant urges. "Terra's there – Serenity Selen's her real name, they say. Go get your memories back."

It takes all of his willpower not to run as fast as his legs will go up towards the third floor. He walks calmly, evenly, and nods to maids and nobles and guards he passes in the hall.

Portia is asleep when he finally slips into their chambers, barring and locking the doors. "Portia!" he whispers frantically, rushing to her and shaking her awake. "Portia!"

"What?" she murmers, sitting up and snapping her fingers. The quartz crystal ball she keeps by their bed sparks to life, filling the room with a dim light.

Terrio takes in the large tapestries on their walls, and the paintings, and the wardrobe and the heavy curtains..all able to hide peepholes riddled with lsiteners. "Not here," he whispers to her.

"Is it Metalia?" she whispers back. "Darling, you're shaking." And he grabs her hand as it reaches out for him.

"Come for a ride with me – let's watch the sunrise," he suggests though it's hours before the sun is due to appear. Her eyes widen. This is a phrase from the day's they'd been a young couple planning a coup from the woods surrounding their tiny town. Back then no one thought anything of lovers going on long rides together, nor the contingent of "chaperones who'd helped them with their plans.

"We'll take the Juper horses," she says, throwing back the covers.

~_paxlunae_~

The sun is sparkling against the frost covering the ground when they finally return from their ride. Terrio is calmer – though his hands still fidget with the reins. Portia is guiding her own horse with hands fisted so tightly they are as white as the frost. Otherwise, she appears unshaken by the news that the Selen's name is once again spreading through the Palace halls.

As they cross the lawn, Terrio sees a small figure rushing to greet them, tripping over her gangly, teenage legs.

"Papa, Mama!" Cecelia calls out, slowing down as she nears them.

"Catch your breath, dear," Portia advises.

Cecelia does, and looks at her father. "The Uranians want to speak to you."

_They found the Grimoire!_ He thinks, trading glances with Portia. "Did they send a note?"

"No – they're in the mirror." She holds up her hands as her parents eyes narrow at her. "I wasn't snooping, The mirror was making noise in your study and when I went to see why. I just touched it and the Prince appeared in it," she said blushing.

"And since when are you old enough to manage international diplomacy," he says cooly, hopping down from his horse and handing the reins to his daughter.

"I am plenty old enough!" Cecelia insists, standing on her tip toes. "I'm nearly 14 – Augusto got to patrol with the guards when he was 14 – and Gaius gets to and he's only 12."

"So you're a proper lady at barely 14," he says, smiling despite his difficult morning.  
"_yes_." Cecelia sighs, "The Prince even said I'm lady." She says, and mumbles as she ducks her head. "He said I'm pretty."

"He did, did he?" Terrio hums. He itched to admonish Prince Cronus for flirting with his eldest daughter – especially as he assumed the young man was at least in his 20's…but perhaps Cecelia would be a friendly face at the negotiating table…even if the Uranians were quite dismissive of women from what Portia had told him.

"Can I come to the meeting," she asks of her own accord. "Augusto got to be at the last one."

"Perhaps you can sit in on a little of it." Terrio concedes. "Tend my horse, you can join me when that's done."

"Yes!" Cecelia cheers, snatching the reins from his hand and pulling the horse along towards the stables.

"We'll be along." Portia says smiling. "Good luck."

He takes a minute to appreciate Cecelia skipping across the lawn – oblivious to their troubles – before making his way up to his study."

~_paxlunae_~

A half hour later, Cecelia bursts through the doors to the study with Porta a few steps behind her, only to see her father staring out the window and the mirror face down on the desk. "Awww. You finished talking already?" she whines.

"Clearly," Portia says, noting Terrio's too-straight back and his hands clasped tensely behind his back. "In any case – you can still help me with the budget today – what do you say?"

"Uhhh." Cecelia hesitates, glancing out the study doors. "Actually I said I would help Ronan with his algebra…and Nora wants to go riding."

"Oh well what am I thinking, run along." Portia tells her.

Terrio hears his daughter yell out her goodbyes and rush out of the study, and then Portia's hand on his back.

"The Grimoire?" she queries.

He shakes his head with a swift jerk. "They offered to let us have it in exchange for some…collateral to ensure we would take care of it and perform spells from it at their request."

"And you _didn't _say yes?" she demands.

But he shakes his head again, staring out at the lawns. "They wanted to keep the collateral."

"Well we'd get to keep the Grimoire," she retorts. "Honestly."

"I couldn't take the deal." And he leans in towards her lest Cecelia or any one else is still listening beyond the doors.

When he leans back again, Portia's face is pale, her hand comes up over her mouth as she meets his eyes.

"Won't they accept _anything _else," she says

He sighs. "Those are Prince Cronus terms," he says gravely, "and the King was quite clear this is his son's deal to make. I asked. I nearly begged. He was insistent."

"What do we do then?" Portia asks "Without the Grimoire…"

"I don't know."

~_paxlunae_~

_Mense Fame_

Serenity is jerked from her slumber by shouting beyond her window. She recognizes enraged chants and angry cries as the sounds carry in from the street.

And then there's more shouting – this time from pain – and the dull clang of objects smashing together.

She launches out of bed and throws the window open, the brisk wind of early spring whipping her face. Below her is a mass of people flooded through Palace way and it's side-streets. She recognizes many heads in the crowd – people she has healed in the past month.

And they crashes are stones – and pans and bricks from the looks of things – being lobbed through the air past the crowd. They clang heavily against metal and crack on bones…she hears a pained whiny as something slams into a horse.

They're throwing the stones at soldiers. She can see the purple livery of the palace guards backed against a building along the main road. And a couple of thme have already fallen from their horses.

"Death to the King!" she hears as more bricks are pelted at the soldiers.

She's transformed and launching out the window before she can think clearly. When the next wave of bricks is thrown she deflects them with a sharp call of "Moonlight Blast!" creating and explosion of red brick dust in mid-air. "Stop this!" she demands.

Those at the front of the crowd hesitate before her, a new round of projectiles already in hand. "No disrespect, Princess…we do this in your name. They are agents of the Usurper."

"They're innocent." She insists, spying one unconscious guard bleeding on the ground. "Help him" she tells his comrades. "Get out of here."

They do so, the crowd parting to let them pass, and all the while her sword is still raised.

"Why did you stop us!" someone cries. "You should fight with us."

"I fight evil," she retorts "not humans."

"They helped him steal his throne…kill your family." Another member of the crowd says. "I remember now – I remember how it smelled the night the palace burned. Everything smelled like death for weeks."

"They're just as evil as those youma." Another chimes in. "It should be you ruling us, Princess."

"I don't want to start a war." She fires back.

"Princess please…" a few more voices join the clamor."Princess…princess."

"S-stop calling me that." She says, sword shaking. "I'm not your princess. I'm the Guardian. I'm –"

"The Queen!" another voice rises from the crowd. "Our rightful Queen."

"Queen Serenity." The many people around her murmur. And the whole mob, from the temple gates up the hill to the palace and down the street towards the market, is suddenly murmering this title, and in a wave, they kneel in the street, heads bowed to the cobblestones. All the while hailing her "Queen Serenity"

"Death to Terrio!" the chant begins anew, hundreds of voices strong. "Long-live Queen Serenity!"

She cannot find her voice to shout at them – to tell them off. Instead she flees, knocking people aside as she runs back through the temple gates, slamming open the great stone doors and forcing them shut behind her.

"What's happened?" a young acolyte says as she runs into the room.

"No one is allowed in." she says, as though she has any authority over Ra's order. "I'm…I'm not healing anymore people."

"My lady…" the acolyte says, "but the people need their memories."

"Their memories are creating violence." She snaps. "I was better…it was better when everyone was at peace." She takes a long breath to steady herself. "Terrio is King. I will not start a civil war."

And with that she drops her transformation and storms off in her nightgown towards the cloister of the Guardian, the title "queen" ringing like a war cry in her ears.

~_paxlunae_~

"Please reconsider," Terrio begs in as dignified a manner as he can. It will not do to grovel before the King of Uranus. "The Grimoire can benefit us both in my hands."

But the King shakes his head. "My son was quite clear…and there are many Martian clans who would agree to more generous terms." He says "you are only our first option. Now that the Grimoire is in our possession we have many parties who might take an interest."

"But our mages."

"There are Martian Venefica from clans who vie for their throne…and many more whose services can be hired…in that case we could keep the Grimoire for ourselves."

"But…it is not magic you can wield!" he sputters.

The King shrugs. "It is still a powerful bargaining chip. I offer it to you on my son's terms only – I'm sure you can see how the trade of would be more than equal. I am surprised he did not request a steeper offer."

"It is…the terms he proposes are not terms we deal in on Earth." He tries again.

But it is a futile effort. Uranus' king shrugs his fur-covered shoulders. "But they are well within the bounds of our world's negotiations…and the Grimoire is within our possession." He smirks. "I would reconsider quickly, cousin. There are many a magic-user-for-hire who would eagerly deal with us.

And with that the mirror blanks out. Leaving him gaping at his own reflection.

_I have no other options_…he thinks, hand coming up to wrap around the amulet that burns around his neck.

~_paxlunae_~

_Her sister stands over her, weaving threads of dark magic with her sure hands. She cries out as the magic dives towards her, piercing through her chest, choking her as it wraps tightly around muscle and bone, tugging, squeezing, tearing._

"_Stop," she begs, hands twitching uselessly where she is pinned to the ground. "Please, Romula, stop."_

"_It'll be over in a second, Rema," her sister snaps. "Stop squirming – it doesn't hurt that much."_

"_It..does." She gasps as the dark magic cuts deeply inside of her, pulling her magic from her cells until it's gathered in a tight ball inside her chest. The curse jerks, pulling her magic out of her, and her body seizes along with it. Her head cracks against the granite cliffs and her eyes roll. She groans, squinting down at her arm…it's translucent._

"Rema!" _her sister is suddenly kneeling beside her. "What did you _do!_ It has never done this!" Romula's hands reach out to shake her shoulders, and pass right through them. "_REMA_!"_

_The dark magic pulls again, hard, she feels it shredding through her as it rends her magic from her body…_

"_That's quite enough of that_!" Tana's deep voice shatters her nightmare and Serenity pitches forward in bed, nearly sick, but back in her own body. "_You don't do yourself favours dwelling on our unfortunate past." _Tana continues to speak. Serenity cannot tell if she is a dream or not. She squints at the hour candle burning on her small nightstand, it glows against the hand mirror behind it and she can make out the blurred silhouette of her predecessor in the glass. "_Rema's fate can't happen to you anyways."_

"It can't?" she murmurs, eyes drooping. She is so tired, out nearly every night trying to quell the mobs who continue sparking violence in her name.

"_The Golden Crystal insures it." _Tana says. She blinks. The figure in the mirror is suddenly holding a golden light similar in color to the crystal tucked inside her locket…but perhaps it is only the candle flame. "_Rema would have done well to follow my example transferring her magic into crystal form…had she known how."_

"That's all our magic?" Serenity mumbles.

Tana's silhouette appears to nod. "_Separate from our souls unlike the Guardians of other worlds. Safer for Guardian and Planet that way."_

"How," she mutters, her head jerking as she struggles to stay awake. Her eyes are nearly shut.

"_Al in due time…I suppose you'll find some use for the magic…or at least pass it on. Now none of this nightmare business – you're to sleep, Guardian."_

She cannot tell the silhouette from the candleflame anymore, and her head once again falls into her pillow. "_All in due time_…"

~_paxlunae_~

"_Usurper_" he shivers as the Daimon he had hoped to cease his dealings with mere months ago appears in the dark window frame of the study. He tries in vain to meet the red, pupil-less eyes that bore into him.

"I'm willing to concede those lands to you," He whispers. "But I need you to send one more fog."

~_paxlunae_~

_Mense Agnorum_

It is the first night where nothing is burning in sometime and she's fallen asleep hours before the midnight bells. But it doesn't last. The loud banging on her door rouses her instantly.

_Another riot?" _she thinks, rolling from bed.

"You're needed in the cloister!" Zinea's voice shouts through the door. "Serenity hurry – it's the fog!"

She jolts from bed, transforming as she does, and wrenches the door open. "Another one."

"Our map's show its planet wide, milady," Zinea says as they rush through the corridors. "It's more powerful than any since…since the first one."

She skids to a halt just beyond the cloister. Overhead thick purple clouds roll over the roof, bright red lightning flickering through them.

"You need to use the cloister." The Mother says, appearing beside them and gesturing to the tall crystal pillar in the centre of the courtyard. "It is used to tap into the whole planet's magic."

"But…but this will bring back everyone's memories…there'll be more than rioting. There'll be war!"

"And without your help, the whole planet will be empty. No one will have any identity at all." The Mother's hard gaze bores into her. "You think any war will be worse than that."

"I never wanted this." She says, staring up at the endless purple clouds. "I don't want them to fight for me."

"They aren't really." Zinea says. "They're fighting for themselves…Terrio has done great harm in his time."

"Wars also end." The Mother says. "But Metalia and the fog cannot be stopped without you."

She bites her lip, images of the riots and crowds chanting her name in her mind. It will be worldwide by morning. _But Metalia…_she steals herself, summoning her sword, and stepping up the the great Crystal Piller.

"Moonlight Healing _Purge_!" she shouts.

The golden light is blinding. It banishes the fog. The Earth from space is momentarily brighter than Sol itself.

And when the light fades, nothing from the Palace to the poles is anything like it was.

~_paxlunae_~

"SHE STOPPED YOUR FOG!" He thunders at the Daimon, terror and anger making him more forceful with this dark creature than he has felt in years. Metalia's eyes watch him cooly from the glass. He thinks it is somehow bigger than last month. "You need to send another!"

"_I shall send no more fog for you, Usurper._" The daimon cackles "_It has served it's purpose!"_

"Send your youma then!" He commands, hand shaking around the amulet. "Take them out, all of them. They're burning my cities to the ground. The north has already ousted my governor!"

"_There'll be no more youma_." The daimon squeals. A grin peels across it's face. "_I no longer need them_."

"You no longer…What?" He sputters.

"_Can you not feel their rage – Usurper," _Metalia says to him. "_I can. All their memories now give them pain…so much pain…and hatred. It _fuels_ me." _And at once it's shapeless body bursts forth from the window, coalescing into near-physical form over his head._ "And all that land you have given me access to," _it chuckles _"I can feed of of their hatred so easily."_

"But…I helped you," he sputters. "I would let you rule beside me."

"_Foolish mortal_." Metalia's voice booms. "_You have sowed the seeds of this discord by your own hand. And you think I still have use for you?" _And with that it disappears, leaving his study freezing in its wake and the glass of his window rattling. He slumps heavily against his desk.

"Terrio." Portia's voice filters through the door. When he looks up she is staring at him with hard-eyes, and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"I can't" he insists, eyes falling on the mirror that still lies face down on his desk.

"We don't have a choice. Tell Cronus yes." Her voice is hollow as she speaks. "We _need_ that book."

~_paxlunae_~

_Mense Plantablant_

_She sees the golden light clearly before her, held between her hands. It is almost too warm, and she shivers as the last of it is drawn from her chest. _

_But what will become of Earth once she has gone?_

"_I give you this piece of me" she says to the Queen and King who kneel before her in the great hall. "May you use it well until the time my successor comes to claim it…and their successor after them."_

_The golden light in her hands pulls together into a tighter shape, all the light glowing from the center, until it has take the form of a small crystal in her palms. Her wizened hand conjures a lavender staff upon which she sets the gem. "With this…and the sealing amulet…may you keep Metalia at bay."_

Tana's voice suddenly fades, along with the great hall and the Golden crystal. Before her is the pitch black of deep space, the bright pinpricks of distant stars piercing the blackness.

There is ice under her feet, a strange pale yellow hue to it. And weapons lie on the ground without soldiers to wield them.

"_No!_" a familiar voice echoes across the ice. _Hippolyte! _She whips her head around to see the Juper Queen, in full battle gear, tumbling through the stale air, chased by the gaping maw of some terrible youma. It's bright green teeth shine against the blackness as it snaps forward, swallowing the Queen.

She wakes violently once more, hands coming up to her head. Her locket seems to burn against her chest.

That was no nightmare. She recognizes the feeling of a Guardian dream – like those she'd had of the Juper war.

_Hippolyte's in danger. _She thinks, and despite the growing violence on Earth she cannot ignore the pull of her premonition. Somewhere within Sol there is more evil that requires her attention.

"Serenity?" Zinea asks when she knocks on the Priestess door.

"Where is ice yellow?"

~_paxlunae_~

The ice of the northern pole is darker than the southern pole…or perhaps that is only his mood. Terrio's boots crunch on the frozen ground as he watches the sky, following the decent of Uranus carriage.

"Now you know you'll still have tutors," he hears Portia's whisper behind him. "And plenty of help adjusting to their culture. They're strange, I think, but you'll be treated well."

"Do I have to stay there forever?" he breathes a shakey breath as he hears the question, himself unsure of the answer.

Portia can lie better than him to their children. "No, of course you'll visit. Just the first few years and when things quiet down you can visit again." she says as surely as if she were saying the sun rose in the East. "And remember – you have quite a few years before you'll marry him. I'm sure he's nice. You'll get to know. You told me yourself he's cute."

"So is the stable boy," Cecelia whispers, "and the noble boys who're squires..and…"

"But darling, what does that matter." Portia says. "Just think – you'll be a Queen. I've always thought you'd be a great leader."

"I guess…"

"And your father and I will visit as well. We'll be there for the wedding."

He can see the flying horse now, spiralling down over the perpetually light pole. Uranus had insisted they meet at the point on the Earth that faced towards Sol, he assumed to ensure less chance of any Juper eyes. He wondered how often the two worlds spied on each other.

"I'll be able to talk to you in the mirror right." Cecelia asks as the Uranian carriage touches the icy ground with a crunch.

"Whenever you like," Portia tells their eldest daughter. "And no childishness. You're to do as your told. Be a credit to us."

A man in navy livery and silver armour steps out onto the snow and he can see a package carried under his arm. The man bows slightly to him, and presents the package, pulling back the parchment wrapping. Within is a book with an aged leather cover and yellowing pages, He recognises the Martian crest across the cover. "Your majesty." The man says an accent foreign to Earth.

"Portia...my wife shall check it."

The man does not bow to the Queen as she approaches, delicately flipping back the cover and lifting the pages. "This is…these are her spells," she says.

"It will be in the best care." He assures the courier. "I trust my daughter will be as well."

"Our Prince shall maintain good standing in your agreement." The man says with another bow. "She shall be treated as well as any royal's first wife."

"_First?" _he hears Cecelia whisper behind him. He swallows the lump in his throat as he beckons her forwards.  
"It's time to go Cecelia…" he says, taking her by the hand and walking her towards the carriage. "Remember what your mother said."

"Be good." She mouths, eyes on the ground. "You'll get this Daimon…right papa?"

"With the Grimoire…" he clears his throat. "yes we will."

His daughter nods and squares her shoulders, ignoring the courier's offered hand as she stumbles up into the carriage. He tries to catch her eyes as the man nods to him and shuts the door before climbing into the cab. But Cecelia keeps her face turned away.

~_paxlunae_~

"I think you should be able to do it with the cloister's power…no one's ever attempted it who hadn't already attained their Sailor Sol transformation," Zinea rattles off in a rush.

"I need to try," she insists. "I managed the Sailor Planet attack, didn't I."

"Y-yes…but this is quite a bit more energy – especially the distance you intend to cross."

"I don't care!" Serenity says. "The dream was…soon. I need to go."

"Alright…remember what I told you to say…and make _sure _you are reaching out for the destination point in your mind."

"I know." She says to the priestess, her hands come up to press against the golden pillar in the centre of the Cloister as she closes her eyes. She doesn't care if few Guardians have managed it. The image of Hippolyte swallowed in bright green jaws plays repeatedly in her mind.

"SAILOR!" she shouts, focusing all her effort on reaching the location in her dream. "TELEPORT!"

The power of Earth rushes through her, searing her cells. She can feel flecks of Jupiter's power within it as well from the time she had tapped into that world's magic, and then an unfamiliar power, ancient and changing, it swirls around her like sand…"

She stumbles as the power fades and hears gasps around her. Her eyes open to an unfamiliar mother priestess far older than Earth's, and who's eyes are a strange, deep red.

She glances beyond her. A glass dome glitters over her head and she stumbles away from the dais where her hands had rested upon a giant hourglass of silver sands…she can see the glint of yellow ice on the surface beyond and – she's sure – on the dark asteroids that loom in the distance.

"Guardian!" the Mother Priestess of Pluto says, kneeling on the floor.

"Where is Hippolyte?"

~_À Suivre_~


	18. The Kuiper Infestation

AN: You have no idea how long I have wanted the share this with you. These next two chapters are going to be important and (hopefully) exciting. So enjoy! This was the series of events that helped me tie the whole plot together even if, on their own, they don't seem as important.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Blah blah blah. Moving on.

Last Time On Pax: Tensions were building up on Earth when Serenity received a vision of battles in the far reaches of the solar system. Drawing on the power from the Cloister of the Guardian, she was able to teleport for the first time, ready to do battle in the Kuiper Belt.

**Flowers in the Ice: The Kuiper Infestation**

"_Commander_?"

"Birgir?" She shouts back, launching off a flaming arrow and ducking behind one of the large chunks of nitrogen ice that peppers Nyx's surface. One hand flies to the cork in her ear as three soldiers rush to cover her. "_Where are you_?"

"_This unnat…ural metal b….ox has a system mal…un…cti..." _His garbled voice comes through. "_…ousand or so mile… advise you to-" _The explosion nearby cuts off his voice.

"Birgir!" she shouts again. But there's only static.

"Commander we have to move…" Brioget says above her. "I've got three of these le-" Suddenly, there's a cracking behind them, and Brioget whips around in time to loose another arrow into the vine (the size of three people) that's piercing through the permafrost. The arrow lights it up in bright red flames and the stalk shrieks as it burns, crumbling to ash on the ice and rock. "Make that two."

_And I have three left myself_. She thinks, glancing back up over the ice boulder. Her line of soldiers has been cut into isolated pockets spread across the tundra, taking cover behind bits of ice, rock and in some of Nyx smaller craters. They're shooting a constant stream of arrows at the jungle of vines advancing on them. She looks for anyone with liquid fire, but only the arrows remain…and are dwindling. _Damnit I could flay that smug Plutonian, a few invasive species, he says – _"Retreat!" she shouts to her team through the communicator in her ear. "Reinforcements compromised. Fall in. Keep your shields up. Don't –"

The earthquake interrupts her, ice and rock splitting open across the tundra, and she and dozens of other soldiers divert loaded bows towards the ice as more giant vines explode from beneath their feet. She stumbles, keeping the arrow notched. Brioget fires into the new vine and it reels back, scorched, but another is immediately up to take its place. Another arrow lights it up in flames, but Hippolyte can already see it won't be enough: there are more vines beneath them than ammunition. She points Brioget and the other soldiers with her towards the east, away from the infestation. They need to get back to the plateau where their horses hover. She glances around; soldiers are streaming around the cluster of new vines, too-few have arrows ready. The flames burn an eerie red in Nyx's pitch black sky. "Cover everyone!" she shouts, collecting two of her last three arrows, she strikes both against her arm guard and puts one between her teeth as it lights up bright red. Then, giving her lieutenants the hand signal for "Run Like Hell," she sends the second soaring into the center of the vine cluster, creating a large gap right through the middle. The ground under her feet shakes as the source of the vines draws on reinforcements to make up the gap. And she sees many of the tentacles who've survived her soldiers barrage converging on the spot. She watches the last of her team pass her site line and counts. _Ten, nine, eight…_she looses the second arrow to maintain the opening in the vines' defense. _Seven, six_... Arrows twang far behind her as her soldiers take out more vines who've chased them past her. _Five, four_… The vines now move around the small inferno sustained within the center of the cluster. The larger ones advance towards her. She reaches into her belt for the ball she'd demanded from Hermes before departing for Kuiper. It had been too unstable to use during the war with the Horde (they couldn't even transport these in large quantities because of the reactionary power), She'd brought it here as a last resort.

"_Commander, get out of there!"_ Brioget's voice shouts in her ear. But she holds her ground, digging her heels into the frozen ground and bringing her shield up, as she pitches the ball through the inferno lit by her arrows.

The ground buckles. Stone cleaves away from stone. The vines are sucked in together as a muted pop echoes from fire. Then the stone and ice beneath her are exploding up and out – knocking her to the ground and sending her tumbling across the ice as the ball's contents detonate in a searing wave of heat. All the vines around her burst into flames instantly.

The extreme cold of Nyx night air rushes back in with a clap as the vines drift to the ground in a rain of ash. She sees many more in the distance, rushing away from the research center they'd been hoping to free. But those vines won't make it to her in time.

_I think I broke a rib,_ she winces as she stumbles to her feet, stowing her shield and flexing her hand, its burnt. Her leather glove has melted from holding the shield's metal handle as it super heated in the explosion. But the cracks across the ice are free of vines, cleared out from her team's exit route. "Let's hope that base can wait for us to get the reinforcements back," she says. But there's no reply from Brioget in her Comm-Cork. She taps the magical device in her ear, but hears nothing – not even static. _Damnit it's fried_. She turns away from the distant vine infestation and spots her team watching from one of the hills across the dark plane. They look like they're cheering. "Alright then," she sighs. _Guess I'll have to tell the Pluto we can defend just fine without their fancy weaponry_. She makes sure her final arrow is secure in her quiver and adjusts the position of her bow before beginning her jog back towards the team. _If we can get more liquid fire in, we'll try for the research base again tomorrow_, she thinks, wiping her face as a few flecks of ash fall on her eyelashes. _As long as the scientists can hold out…_

"Ow!" she curses as a particularly heavy bit of ash pelts her forehead. Her eyes scan the sky for more. _Stupid cold turns everything to ice out here._ She shields her eyes as more falls, this time on her feet. _Hang on…those aren't ash…_she freezes in place, watching the green pellets fall out of the dark sky onto her feet. Carefully she lets them fall from her boots, stepping around them on her toes. Her hand drifts back to the arrow left in her quiver. _Where are they coming from?_ There are no clouds above her, just the small green pellets dropping out of the thin atmosphere. They're falling randomly all around her, peppering her route back to her team. "Go!" she shouts to them across the hundreds of meters of tundra and ice. Surely they see these too. "Brioget, Go!" she can't have them walking back into this minefield with her. She catches sight of her Lieutenant waving at her and her troops thankfully in retreat, before her eyes drift down once again to the pellets…which if she's not mistaken are _seeds_. She moves her feet carefully, watching them roll across the ice, and steps on a free spot on the tundra. She notches her final arrow as the light tap-tap of the seeds falling to the ground ceases. _That's good at least_. And takes another step.

She sees the bright green as it tumbles out of her hair, follows it with her eyes as it falls, splitting open with a crack on the ice.

Her feet are dashing through the mess of seeds without care as the new vine explodes out from the broken seedpod, cracking open other seeds along the way. She keeps her arrow ready and when she spies the crack splitting open under her feet, she shoots into it. Flames burn the vine that took route in the ground and she lights the wood of her bow with it. It's an awkward torch and a more awkward staff. Her free hand itches to swing her favoured axe.

_You'll be in even more shit then, _Hippolyte thinks as she catches sight of the vines advancing on her from both sides. She bats them away with the lit ends of the bow, not nearly as effective at burning them, and spies the crater ahead on her left, coated in the yellow and pink hues of a thick ice sheet. _Perfect_. She charges for it, spinning the bow to deflect any other vines, and launches over the edge. Her toes find the latch hidden on the back of her thick-soled boots and release the blades protected inside. She lands on the ice with a spin. The air whips around her as the skates carry her across the crater.

Across it, she can see the Plateau peaking over the horizon, the highest point on Nyx pockmarked surface. The glint of light across metal tells her their party of chariots has descended to the surface. She angles her skates towards the Plateau and picks up speed to carry her up the crater's steep side. Grinning, she hits the incline and pushes off the ice one more time, launching up into the air. She retracts the blades on her boots as she flies, ready to hit the ground running.

And then gasps, jerked back in mid air, as something grabs her by the ankle. "Shit!" she cries, struggling in the grip of the vine that had sprouted on this side of the crater. Her hand loses its grip on the burning bow, leaving her without any fire to defend herself. The cold tendril constricts around her calf, swinging her in the air. She thrashes as it holds her upside down.

The blade of one boot is still free. She could…_It will be stupid_…but the vine has already wrapped itself around her to the knee. It won't have any problem crushing her. Gritting her teeth, she prays she'll have time to get away, and kicks her free foot, slicing through the vine with the blade of her skate. She plummets towards Nyx frozen surface as the vine's dead end crumbles from her leg. She lands on her elbows. Her broken rib throbs in her chest and she scrambles backwards, fumbling for the latch that will retract the skate, as the live end of the vine hisses overhead. She glances up. Two new tendrils have already grown from the vine's cut end, slithering into the air like snakes. They dive at her as she gets to her feet, and before she can go more than a pace towards safety one has once again caught her ankle. _Where is that bow, _she thinks, shaking free and stepping on the other tendril as it launches for her. The bow is close by, flaming ends extinguished. _Damnit_. She grabs for her axe instead as the two new heads of the vine jab at her again. She's out of options. Her first defensive swing is reflexive and, in her panic, she cuts not one, but both tendrils. Two new heads sprout from both and the two tendrils expand to human sized as they circle around her, four ends rising in the air on both sides of her like vipers. She ducks to the ground and rolls, trying a new tactic to get away, but one vine successfully wraps around her arm, another end around her foot, and she has no choice but to hack at them again, running as fast as she can across the tundra as the two cut tendrils expand the number of live vines pursuing her from four into six. She sees over her shoulder as the original vine is growing rapidly to accommodate them. It's now the size of her world's ancient oaks, several human bodies across. She sucks a sharp breath through her teeth as one of the vines cuts off her escape, it's four viper tendrils growing to twenty feet above her swallows hard and glances at the plateau where the shining helmets of her soldiers wait, watching. She clenches her teeth and sets the axe swinging as a defence.

_If I hack it again, it will only get bigger, _she thinks, spinning the axe near the base of the blade and using its wooden handle to knock the vines away. The wood bats them with loud thwacks. She keeps it spinning, eyes on her soldiers who are now coming down from the plateau to assist her. She frantically scanned the sky for Birgir's ship but knows it's futile – he would know nothing of how to repair system's malfunctions on the Mercurian and Plutonian ships.

Her own more traditional transport is still waiting atop the plateau, only a few soldiers in the chariots. They'll be no good as air support – not with how their horses get spooked by these vines. She blocks another dive by two of the vine's heads and jumps as another two sweep for her legs. A sharp whistle passes her teeth – a warning to her soldiers to stay back.

Another thwack of her axe, this time to the thickest part of the vine, and the four-headed plant shrieks, tumbling heavily to the ground. _Thank Ra._ She thinks, turning to run towards her army. She can make it in two minutes if she doesn't slip –

She trips forwards as earth cracks beneath her feet, barely remaining upright. Her ankle snaps as she tries to turn and her eyes fall on her twisted foot…and the tiny vine wrapped around her boot

The end of the bright green tendril grows rapidly, twining around her calf. She hits it with the butt of her axe, but it holds fast. She flips the weapon, prepared to use the blade in desperation, but the vine tugs – hard. She shouts out as she falls, ankle twisting even more in an unnatural direction. The vine pulls her injured leg, dragging her towards the larger vines farther out on the plane.

_I can't be bested by a plant_, she thinks as she tightens her grip on the axe and surges up, ready to hack the vine's head off.

Halfway through her swing her arm jerks back, something cold and sticky restricting her wrist.

A small sprout has darted out and latched onto her arm. She struggles against it as it continues to wrap around her limb. It continues constricting until the axe clatters from her fingers. The small vine twines up from her wrist to her shoulder and across her chest before pulling her violently towards the hard ground. She wheezes as her impact with the ice steals the air from her lungs and looks all around.

She can hear her soldiers running towards her, some calling out her name, can feel the foreign ice freezing the blood in her fingers, but all she can see as she looks around are the tendrils of approaching vines and the empty black sky. The vine around her chest cripples her next breath. Spots begin blurring her vision, mixing in with the distant stars over head. They're on the dark side of Nyx… There's no chance that she will see Sol's light before she dies, nor the golden glow of her own home. She swallows back a scream. The last thing the soldiers need is their commander's fear.

The world above her is spinning away as the vines wrap tighter and tighter around her. She readies herself to whistle "Leave Me Behind," so that at least her troops will survive.

"_Earth Rose Monsoon_!"

A sudden wind whips a flurry of roses through the air, searing the vines entrapping her and burning them to a crisp. The petals spiral out towards all the nearby plants – setting each of them ablaze.

"All right?" Serenity asks as her horse sets down beside Hippolyte. She can already hear her soldiers cheering.

"Yeah…" she coughs, pushing herself to her feet, not quite believing the sight of The Guardian grinning at her. "Careful there's more below."

"I think I can take care of that…" Serenity says as she jumps from her horse down onto the ground. "Moonlight BLAST!"

"Not that – " she tries to tell the Guardian, but too late – the ground below them buckles and cracks, severing numerous vines as the attack aims downwards. She groans.

"I just saved your life," Serenity complains.

"They duplicate when they're cut in half," Hippolyte snaps, favouring her left foot.

Just as she says it, the vines below them shriek in unison, and the rocks groan and crackle as a mass of new tendrils shoots up from the depths into the chilly air. The ground shakes as the vines expand and crack through ice and rock.

"Stand back." Serenity says before leaping up, stowing Moonlight away, and raising both hands high. "Sailor Planet ATTACK!"

She has to shield her eyes from the blinding energy and the shockwave nearly knocks her off her feet again. Her ankle burns as she sways. _Definitely spranged, _she squints her eyes and grins as she sees the network of vines below Nyx surface blacken and shrivel under the high-energy assault.

"Well I'd say you have perfect timing, but that might be understating things," she says as Serenity lands on the cracked ground. The Sailor's amber eyes dart immediately to her ankle and she summons Moonlight back into her hand.

"May I," she says, pointing to the ankle Hippolyte is favouring.

"Certainly." And it takes only moments before "Healing Purge" has her ankle working normally again. She claps Serenity on the shoulder, startled when the Guardian dives towards her instead, wrapping both arms around her shoulders. "It's nice to see you too," she mumbles, glad none of her soldiers are close enough to catch her blushing. "I had actually just told them to send for you yesterday." She says to the Serenity as she pulls away. "How did you get here so fast?"

"I..uh." Serenity ducks her head, grinning. "I didn't get any messenger. I had a dream," The Guardian stares intensely at her. "You haven't encountered any flowers on these plants have you?"

_Flowers? _"No…just the vines. But we've only been monitoring them so far, today was just our second hostile encounter – Why what did you see?"

"A lot more than vines," Serenity says. "Possibly the future."

"Well come on – I'll catch you up," she says directing the guardian and her horse towards the ship. "How long ago did you have the dream?" she asks as they walk, smirking when the Guardian's warm hand brushes against her own.

"Just yesterday – I, uh, teleported here."

"Tele…what?" she asks. The term sounds familiar… "Wait…isn't that when."

"When I was on Earth an hour ago and then I was on Pluto a second later…yeah." Serenity says, rubbing the back of her neck as though embarrassed. "New trick."

She smiles, shaking her head. "Always a new surprise with you."

~_paxlunae_~

"They're all over the exo-galactic quadrant of the belt." The Mecurian professor explains as he spreads out a map of the Sol System around Serenity and a few military commanders (at least she assumes by their clothes).

Serenity frowns and turns towards Hippolyte

"The side that faces away from most stars," Hippolyte murmurs.

"Yes," the Mercurian says loudly, adjusting his glasses on his face. Everyone around the table directs their gaze towards Serenity. "'Exo' meaning 'out of' and 'galactic' referring to a galaxy which, in this context is our own. And you know what it's called of course."

"I hardly think it matters," Hippolyte counters.

"Some of us do," the old academic says. "I've been studying the universe from our colonies here for years – and these vines are clearly a sentient life form. Forgive me if I want those investigating these intruders to know a bit more than just how to 'blow them up.'"

"Just get to the briefing update," Hippolyte snaps.

"Right…well. As most of us know," he continues. "The first sighting of them was two weeks ago when they appeared on Kerberos – that's one of Pluto's moons."

"I know that," Serenity mutters. Then, louder, asks: "what do you mean appeared there?"

"That is…something we hoped to find out today," the professor says. "Kerberos is uninhabited save the occasional lunar nomad."

"Someone who explores the Sol systems moons," Hippolyte supplies.

"So the vines were discovered there long after they took route," the professor continues. "Now the nomad lived long enough to inform Pluto of the vines existence. But of course Kerberos surface was too overrun to investigate. We were forced to burn them all. When the observatory on Nyx reported sprouts they collected samples."

"Which triggered them to start dividing into more vines," Hippolyte adds.

"And endangering the building," the professor says. "You'll all be unhappy to learn that the research center was destroyed along with the samples…as well as the three researchers inside."

"We'll burn the infestation out of the ruins," a representative from Pluto chimes in. "And send a team to investigate the remains…with any luck the records of their research will be protected…or perhaps they found a way to identify these infestations from a distance."

"And no one in the belt has reported flower sightings?" Hippolyte asks.

"These vines have never produced flowers," the professor scoffs. And Serenity stares intently at the map to keep from snapping at the smug man. "Now, onto the delayed Juper contingent…I heard they had a system malfunction."

"They made contact with me," Hippolyte says. "Presumably they're still stranded. Give me their last known coordinates and my team will go to extract them from that contraption you call a ship."

"The captain's manual was on board," the professor sighs. "I'll have our team of engineers conduct a review."

"They'll need an extraction at any rate," Hippolyte continues. "And we'll rely on familiar transports to do it, no disrespect." She nods to the professor and the Plutonian representative. "In case it's a design flaw."

"C-completely understood, your majesty." The Plutonian agrees, though the professor purses his lips in disapproval.

"I'll take the Guardian along."

"And we'll see about recovering any records from the Nyx facility." The Plutonian says. "Now I think it's time we talked about the Kuiper colonies…the Uranians want to take a proactive approach to these vines – they've decided to go ahead with initial evacuation procedure."

"Common sense really," Hippolyte says expressionless. "I suppose they've made exception for my own settlements?"

The Plutonian man makes a face. "I believe their King cited cultural differences that could lead to chaotic evacuations…"

"Understandable," Hippolyte mutters, frowning at the map of the Sol System's outer asteroid belt. "Our closest is a few thousand miles from here, does it make sense to everyone if I continue on to assess their need for evacuation once I've recovered my second team?"

"Certainly," the Plutonian representative says. "Oh, as long as the Guardian returns here."

"I'd do much more good out in the field," Serenity counters.

"Tactically speaking," the disagreeable professor says. "I should think it would make more sense to pair her with the Uranians – they'll be covering more colonies. And I believe they requested her."

_I can't be separated from her_, Serenity thinks, remembering her vision. "There's no reason Jupiter can't carry on to evacuate more colonies once their own have been handled," she tells the gathered officials, voice growing with each word. "And I work well with Hippolyte." She feels the Juper Queen's hand fall on her shoulder. "If you like…tell Uranus that cultural differences might make our collaboration a…chaotic arrangement." And she turns away before she has to confront their reactions.

"Professor if you'd come with us to examine the ship," Hippolyte requests, then to the others. "Let us know what you recover from Nyx."

It is only once they are out of the room on their way to set up the Juper fleet that Hippolyte slides her arm around Serenity's shoulders and laughs. "I very much hope they tell Uranus that verbatim."

"I hope I wasn't rude."

"Trust me – they're quite deserving of it. Now, I think these evacuations will go far better than the last – no one's turning into monsters this time."

Serenity glances at Hippolyte's smiling face as the image of the Queen being consumed in the jaws of a carnivorous flower once again flashes through her mind. "As long as there aren't other surprises."

~_paxlunae_~

"Up ahead," Sailor Earth says, when a glint of light reflects back at her in the surrounding space. She trains the light from her crescent mark towards it. A long, steel wing pierces through the blackness and the company of flying horses and carriages dives towards it.

"If there's no power on that ship, they'll all be dead," Hippolyte worries.

"Air comes from separate spells and mechanisms inside." The professor assures her with a sniff. "And Pluto used their own technology to do it. I should think if they can make Styx a habitable rock, you needed worry about ships."

Hippolyte huffs. "I don't like trusting my people to your metal tins."

"Because these horses are so much safer," he retorts. Sailor Earth notes he's clinging particularly tightly to the lieutenant steering his chariot.

"Horses don't need flight manuals," Hippolyte mutters.

"Wait," Sailor Earth's voice cuts off them off. "Their malfunction was with the power, yes?"

"Yes," Hippolyte confirms.

Sailor Earth lets the light of her crescent mark dim, allowing the faint red glow from within the ship to be visible. "Then why are the furnaces running?"

Hippolyte raises one hand and the entire company stills, fanning out around the ship. Indeed, without the light of the Guardian's crescent mark to mask it, the ship's furnaces appear lit at full capacity, and as it drifts in the darkness they see the cabin too is completely lit…and empty.

"Perhaps they retreated to the cargo deck," the professor suggests.

Hippolyte's hand falls to her axe. "Where did you put the door to that thing?"

~_paxlunae_~

The entry hatch crashes to the floor with a sharp clang and Sailor Earth stumbles as she comes into contact with the magically-sustained gravity inside. She keeps her hand raised, ready for any vines, as Hippolyte prods the professor and several soldiers on board behind her. The hallway is completely lit.

"Watch yourselves," Hippolyte warns. "There could be vines anywh –" She's cut off by the scream of a soldier to their left and Sailor Earth whips around in time to dodge a blast of plasma aimed at her head. Hippolyte deflects the next off her axe.

"Th-that wasn't a plant." The professor stutters.

"Better not be," Hippolyte says as she and Sailor Earth rush down the hall towards the direction of the attack. They step through the open doorway to a ship's storage hallway when another blast shoots from between the shelves. Sailor Earth catches this one on Moonlight's blade. "Show yourself," she commands, stepping in front of the Juper Queen.

Something glowing a sickly green colour emerges from between the shelves, it appears almost like a youma – a warped body, but with a disturbingly human-like face.

"_light_," it hisses, ghostly arms sprouting from its sides. "_Burns_."

"I'll show you burns," she says, "Earth Rose Monsoon!"

The attack rushes at the monster, rose petals burning brightly as they spin around it. They blow it back and it raises its arms in a shield.

And it is grinning, still standing as the barrage fails. "_Useless light_."

Serenity clenches her fist. "Earth Thorn Hurricane!" and the upgraded attack shreds the sprite to bits. "There that's…"

Before their eyes it reforms. "_Try again_."

"It isn't physical," Hippolyte says. And they raise their weapons again as it launches another plasma blast in the close confines of the ship. "Try something else."

"Sailor Planet will blow this ship apart," she hisses back at the Queen.

"Well try healing it then," Hippolyte says as another plasma blast rushes at them.

"Moonlight Heal –" she starts to say, but the sprite before them just cackles, exploding in midair, spewing out hundreds of vine seeds as it does.

Sailor Earth switches attacks, stowing her sword and sending a flurry of rose petals whipping around the room. They burn the seeds to ash before they can sprout.

"Those things have been spreading the seeds," Hippolyte murmurs as the small company who'd entered the ship with them rush into the room.

"Whatever that was." The Mercurian professor whips a strange device from his pocket, scanning the whole room. "No energy signature to speak of…this is only detecting us." He curses, stowing it away.

"Stay behind me," Serenity says to all of them.

"And stay close professor," Hippolyte murmurs, though the fidgety man needs no prompting. He stays close to the Juper Queen's back as they continue deeper into the brightly lit, empty ship.

They clear both levels of the ship without any sign of the Juper crew…and unsettlingly both escape pods are still docked in their bays, untouched. "Birgir, where are you?" Hippolyte had muttered as ascended to the cabin level.

The cabin door stands out immediately – vines surround it, creeping out from under the door and growing along the walls. "Earth Rose Monsoon!" Serenity shouts, burning the vines and blowing out the cabin door, it falls to the ground with a loud clang.

"There's another!" the lieutenant behind her shouts. Another plasma sprite – as sickly green as the first - hovers at the front of the cabin, vines moving all around it. It whips around as the Professor shouts and giggles. Moonlight Healing Purge washes through the cabin a second too late – the sprite races away right through the glass cabin windows as the light makes contact.

"I got it!" The professor cries, fiddling again with the device. "No – it is _still _only recognizing human signatures." He groans in frustration. "This is _designed_ to analyse unfamiliar energy."

"Maybe it's just that alien." One of Hippolyte's lieutenants ponders. The Queen has a frown on her face, but remains quiet. Her eyes scan over the vines.

"Earth Rose Monsoon," Serenity whispers, the roses swirl around the cabin, burning the hazardous plants, and the group of them step into the empty room.

"There was a struggle." Hippolyte says, eyeing the turned over Captain's chair. "and…" she stoops to pick up a short sword that's fallen under the ship's control table. "Birgir…"

"What are these?" Serenity asks, smoothing out a parchment that had been spread across the ship's controls. "It was looking at it when we came in."

Hippolyte wipes her eyes with the back of her hand as she approaches Serenity and leans in towards the parchment. "A map of the belt…it's spelled to move along with the position of the asteroids – see." She points to one of the ink marks as it hovers slowly across the parchment. "That's Calpurnia – our largest colony." Her fingers touch a bit of dust that's sprinkled across the map. "This isn't ash."

"There's more here," one of the lieutenants says, toeing a pile of the brown dust on the cabin floor. "and there…and there."

"I'll analyse it – stop touching it!" the professor chastises, pulling a small parchment envelope from his coat pocket. "You'll contaminate it."

"Hey – "Hippolyte says, eyes falling on another pile of dust on the control panel. Her fingers pluck something out of it. "Put this in there too."

Serenity bites back a gasp. Between Hippolyte's fingers is half a yellow flower petal, already disintegrating into dust.

"See if you can find anything like that on Nyx or Kerberos." She tells the professor. "And…you can fly this ship right?"

"Ce-certainly." The professor says "I helped design it."  
"What are you thinking?" One of the lieutenants asks.

"We'll need it to evacuate Calpurnia," Serenity says, and Hippolyte nods along with her as she drops the flower petal into the professor's sample envelope.

"It was looking at our map." Hippolyte says. "And Calpurnia's closest to us." She turns to the Professor. "Work on that sample on board. And radio Pluto for reinforcements." Her eyes are cold and she stows Birgir's blade in her belt. "We can't stop between evacuations if it knows the colonies' locations. We'll need to have a relay of ships at the ready."

"We have two prototypes done – this is _one_." The professor stutters.

"And we have an enemy we don't understand making whole crews of people disappear." Hippolyte snaps at the man. "Tell your team to make it work."

~_paxlunae_~

Despite Hippolyte's misgivings, she and Serenity leave the chariots, carriages, and most of the Juper troops behind in favour of the faster ship – with strict instructions to Brioget to radio as soon as they see anything besides Kuiper's rocks and ice. Calpurnia still lies over a day's travel away – and she's never seen Hippolyte pace more in her life.

The professor has no good news for them either. He emerges from the bowels of the ship a half-day's ride through their journey with dark bags beneath his eyes and hair askew from tugging at it repeatedly.

"The flower disintegrated." He reports and Serenity sees Hippolyte kick her feet against the Captain's chair in frustration. "I – I can't collect any data from it. Whatever it's made of is just…well just ordinary dust as soon as it dies."

"The flowers were on the ship," Hippolyte mutters. "What about your device?"

"I have gone over it again and again…it doesn't recognize any other signatures of life." The professor says. "But…Pluto has gotten back to us. They're keeping close watch on their other moons and skies now…and the other ship is on its way to Calpurnia behind us.

"How many colonists can it hold?" Serenity asks.

"70," the professor says.

"Calpurnia has 62," Hippolyte sighs. "And our other colonies are much smaller…three families or less in some cases…the chariots could manage…but the Uranians have hundreds…"

"I- we're speeding up production of the third ship." The professor stutters. "Expanding its cargo capacity…and I believe Uranus' generals brought plenty of transportation for their people."

"As long as they're willing to evacuate more than their own." She stares at the ceiling. "We're not just dealing with a few colonies on the fringes of the infestation now…it's looking at maps…these plants are _looking_ for our people."

"Well they won't get them." Serenity snaps, launching up from her seat. "They're far from invincible."

"Indeed…I think….they're getting back to me soon with what they can piece together of Nyx experiment records." The professor says, glancing towards the door. "I may be able to predict their movements I just need more research."

"Let us know what they tell you," Hippolyte orders him.

Once he leaves, Serenity approaches the Queen slowly, eyeing her hand as it drums across the pommel of Birgir's sword. She's spoken more in the past five minutes than she has in hours. "You should sleep," she advises the Queen.

"I know that," Hippolyte snaps at her, collapsing into the Captain's chair. One hand comes up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "I'm thinking about too much."

Serenity waits, kneeling close to Hippolyte.

Finally, her dark haired friend lifts her head and sighs, putting her hand over her mouth.

"What happened in your dream?"

_The yellow blossom rising up behind her, petals unfurling to reveal rows of thorn-like teeth. It snapped forwards, consuming the Juper Queen in its bright green jaws. Her terrified face disappearing within its maw._

Serenity swallows. "The flowers…attacking people."

"Then…Birgir…Birgir's dead isn't he?"

"No – we don't know that." Serenity says, grabbing the Queen's free hand. "There's always a chance – we're going to find out who this enemy is and we're going to get rid of them…we'll find out where they took your people."

Hippolyte bites her lip. Serenity's alarmed when a laugh bubbles from her throat, accompanied by tears. "You really can't lie can you...there's a blush all over your face."

She ducks her head; she's never hated the quirk more. "There's still a chance he's alive," she insists.

"Then you're lying about your dream," the Queen accuses. "Tell me what you saw, really."

Serenity shakes her head. "I can't…right now, I can't." she says.

The Queen hangs her head, wiping more tears from her eyes. "Damnit, I hate crying." She places her hand over their clasped ones and Serenity places her other hand over the Queen's, their fingers intertwining. "There's something else…" Hippolyte whispers. "The professor hasn't thought of it yet…and I don't want to bring it up lest there's a panic."

"What?"

"His machine…is designed to identify energy. In fact, we used it on Jupiter to identify the pathogen that contaminated the water. His model is much more advanced than the one we had."

"Okay."

"Well…he says it can't recognize any other energy on this ship…but humans." The Queen swallows. "I keep thinking…it recognized the pathogen on our world…but it still knew the Horde as people."

She immediately thinks of the two ghosts on the ship…non-physical, spriteual energy. "Those beings spreading the seeds…the plasma ones."

"I think they're human," Hippolyte says. "I don't know how…but I think they're human."

She can do nothing but squeeze the Queen's hand, and hold vigil with her on the ship while they wait, traveling as fast as possible through the endless night of the Kuiper belt, more anxious than ever to understand these plants and her dream.

~_paxlunae~_

When their ship lands on Calpurnia amid a crowd of curious colonists, Hippolyte tilts her head up to the cold asteroid's sky and thanks Ra a thousand times over. She radio's Brioget to keep a watch on the skies as she approaches Calpurnia and orders the residents and her own crew to set up a defence around the Colony's central hall. Sol's meagre light has sunk below the asteroid's horizon by the time they have sequestered fifty people inside. They talk and wait nervously inside as Brioget and Pluto relay reports to Hippolyte and the Professor. The ten fighters with them and twelve from the colony light torches all around the hall – using wood from the nearby houses to form a full barrier. Serenity herself perches on the roof in Sailor form, Moonlight poised and ready, as the long night drags on.

There is one priest on Calpurnia capable of magic. And though it takes him a few tries, he eventually does manage to duplicate the communication spell the Jupers put on the corks. Hippolyte comes up to the roof with one as the seventh hour without a sighting of the plants or their sprite allies passes.

"We heard from the Uranians," she relays as she sits on the roof beside the Guardian. "They're _insisting_ on completing their own evacuations alone…though they have sent a transport ship our way." Serenity see's the Queen's palm come to rest between them and clasps it in her own gloved hand. Hippolyte smiles, giving her hand a squeeze. "I'm going to send it on to Saturn's largest colony. And then to the Mercurians…The Martians refuse to leave."

"From what I know of them…I'm not surprised."

"They're idiots," Hippolyte says flatly. "Hot headed like the Uranians in their own way…but their Veneficii have a bit of experience fighting sprites…so perhaps they'll survive until we can oust these things."

"They will," Serenity assures her, though she has no idea if that's true. "How far do these colonies expand?"

"All over Kuiper…to the other side of Sol, even," Hippolyte responds. "Most of us have outposts here. And truly they're well equipped to defend themselves against _normal _threats." She jumps as Serenity lets her head fall on the Queen's shoulder before pulling the Guardian closer. "But I've never seen anything like these plants."

"And we don't know where they're coming from yet?" Serenity asks.

She feels the Queen shake her head. "The Professor's people are still piecing together what Nyx was able to discover… A lot of the records burned with the vines."

They fall silent for a few more hours, and Serenity's relieved when the Queen finally nods off. She carefully pulls the cork from Hippolyte's ear lest an announcement from one of their allies wake her.

It's good that she does. As a faint, purple sunrise overtakes Calpurnia, Brioget's voice sparks in her own communicator. "Coming in from the west. Just spotted them ahead of us."

"Stay out of sight." Serenity commands her quietly. Hippolyte stirs as the Guardian eases her down onto the rooftop so that she can stand. She walks to the edge, eyes on the sky. "I've got this."

She spots the bright yellow sprites shortly after, descending in a group of five from the sky. One she recognizes from the ship.

Two explode high over the asteroid, seeds cracking and sprouting into the settlement, many burrowing into the ground. Serenity is relieved to see them growing slowly as she launches from the rooftop, throwing a Moonlight Blast at the remaining sprites to catch their attention. "Earth Rose Monsoon!" she shouts, burning many of the new vines before they take root. She then jumps up to meet the sprites, aiming Moonlight right at them. "Moonlight Healing –"

A plasma blast cuts her off, knocking the sword from her hand as the three creatures rush at her, another blast of plasma hits her square in the chest, shooting her out of the sky and skidding across the asteroid's hard surface.

She gets to her feet quickly, dodging two more blasts once she's on her feet. Two of the sprites are on her immediately, their eye's glowing a deep red. _That can't be good_. She thinks. "Earth Rose Monsoon" and the attack forces the two back for barely a moment before they're on her again, the burning power of the roses having no effect on their incorporeal bodies. _Shit_! She runs out of the main settlement into the fields where they keep a harvest. Waiting to have the two follow her. "Sailor Planet Attack!" she shouts when she's far enough from the buildings. The shockwave of power nearly knocks her off her feet but it does the job, the two sprites evaporate before her eyes, their eyes the last things she sees. To her relief, no seeds crumble to the ground in their wake.

_Alright,_ she thinks as the attack begins to take its toll. She hasn't used its full potential, but it still leaves her shaky. She looks all around. "There _was _a third." She mutters as she shuffles back towards the settlement.

"_Here_" a voice hisses from below and she trips as cool, slimy fingers wrap around her ankle, the third sprite rises out of the ground like a ghost. "_starlight_"

She shouts as it pulls her off her feet, ghostly arms tackling her into the dirt. And then it's above her, eyes glowing as well, and fingers sinking below her skin.

"_So bright_." Its arms light up and she sees the golden crystal flicker in the locket on her chest as golden light begins to leech up the creature's arms, streaming off her skin.

_What is this_? She thinks, her struggle weakening as the golden power is stolen from her.

"Oi!" a sharp voice cuts across the flat rock. She sees the sprite's head jerk up, spinning fully around to look at the source of the noise. A hand punches through it as another holds a torch to the sprites' body.

Serenity scrambles back as its fingers retreat from her skin, rounding on the new threat. Hippolyte holds her fist within the creature's head, even as it grins, arms reaching out to wrap around her neck. "Your sword," she gasps.

Serenity spies Moonlight on the ground nearby. She runs to retrieve it as a faintly green light rises from Hippolyte's skin and begins to absorb into the sprite. The Queen's hands fall limp at her sides, torch clattering to the ground.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" She shouts, stabbing into the sprite and wrenching Hippolyte away from it. The Queen slumps against Sailor Earth as the attack fills the sprite with bright, golden light.

She's expecting it to disappear, but her blood chills in her veins as the creature screams, it's red eyes fading into dim, blue irises and wide black pupils. Human eyes, and suddenly a human face.

"_H-h-help me_." It says in a new, gravelly voice. And Hippolyte gasps at her side.  
"Birgir!" she shouts, stumbling away from Serenity and reaching out for the sprite. But as her hand reaches out for the sprite, its body fades, flecks of colour scattering into the dark night sky. Hippolyte's hand closes around empty air. "NO!" she cries, and clenches her fist, lowering it to her side as she stares at the spot where the sprite had been.

Serenity drops her transformation, exhaustion creeping up on her, as she puts an arm around the Queen's shoulders and guides her back towards the rescued colony.

"You're all clear," she tells Brioget, through the cork-communicator.

"We need to move quickly." Hippolyte says at her side. "Before it makes more of those things."

~_paxlunae_~

Brioget's team divides in half on Calpurnia, one half along with a higher level priestess remain to defend the colony until the Plutonian ship can come for the extraction – With strict orders to carry on to the next nearest colony afterwards. Brioget herself leads the second half, racing behind Hippolyte and Serenity towards Lyre – a small colony on little more than a thick chunk of ice. The Space Schooner reaches it a half a day before the Juper horses and chariots.

And they are not so lucky. Silence greets them when they open the ship's doors onto the icy surface. Houses lie empty across the landscape – many with the lights still on. The vines they find nestled in a deep canyon on the surface – and quickly dispatch them.

They find one flower petal frozen in a puddle of ice, and Hippolyte cuts it from the ground with one powerful swing of her axe. They leave the ghost town behind them and pass the one salvaged petal off to the professor with care, hoping he can derive some answers from it.

They're in the air again when he finally pries it from its icy casing, and Hippolyte puts a dent in the wall as it crumbles to dust upon contact with the air.

"I _need_ a live flower." The professor says to them later. "Can we not set a trap for these things? A-according to these notes…" he says, holding up the hand-written scribbles he has compiled from what was pulled from Nyx's research center. "If we can isolate that particular energy we may be able to locate the source of these invaders."

"I'm not putting anyone into a trap on purpose." Hippolyte growls at him.

"You may not have to." One of the troops who's accompanied them says as he clatters down the stairs from the cabin. "There's a message on the ship radio – the Uranians."

Hippolyte is up the stairs like a shot with Serenity on her heels. There can be nothing good about the Uranians contacting Hippolyte of their own free will…

~_paxlunae_~

They're half way to Uranus central colony, Emerus, when they know they're too late.

Brioget alerts them. They can see the distant fires on Emerus surface when she radio's in. "Get your ship back to us now!" she says. They turn the furnaces under the Schooner on full power and race back towards the bulk of Juper's forces.

The flying horses are in chaos when they approach, breaking training and formation to escape the plasma blasts from the army of sprites flying overhead. Some are without riders; they soar without direction through the pitch-black space, trailing vines behind them on the wheels of their chariots.

They spot Brioget with many others taking cover within a large carriage, wisps of liquid fire encircling their stronghold, flames sustained weakly in the scant air provided by the carriage's magic.

Serenity takes comfort in the fact that it appears space is not a habitable environment for the vines either: Very few appear to have sprouted onto the chariots and carriages. _Thank Ra, _she thinks as she drops from the ship's hatch down onto a rider-less horse, reining it in and forcing the sprites back from the carriage with a quick Rose Monsoon. _There's only so many evils I can deal with at a time_. "Hippolyte," she says as the cork in her ear crackles to life. "Can you get them to follow you?"

"I can try," she says, and the Schooner is suddenly cutting through the swarm of sprites, drawing their attention away from Brioget's beleaguered team. Hippolyte gathers all the sprites behind her ship. Serenity waits anxiously for them to converge on it before dropping onto the roof. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts, letting the attack pulse outward in all directions. The sprites freeze as it hits them, eyes fading from red to human blacks, browns, and hazels. She notes the pale, blond faces of Uranian soldiers before each of them disintegrates, evaporating into the vacuum of space with their screams echoing behind her.

It is Hippolyte who comes to the roof of the ship to collect her. She jumps as the Queen's hand lands on her shoulder, her gaze having been lost in the depths of space.

"_Help me_." The sprites had all screamed. Her nails dug uselessly into her palms.

"We still need to check Emerus," Hippolyte reminds her. And only that is enough to get her to her feet, back into the relative comfort of the ship.

The colony is entirely aflame when they set down on the ground, and armed warriors come out to greet them as they land. Their weapons drop as Hippolyte descends from this ship, and they fall to their knees in relief. Of a colony of hundreds, barely fifty are left, hunkered down in a grain cellar.

"Take them back to Pluto" Hippolyte tells Brioget when she arrives. "It's orbit will put it within a two day's flight of here…I want to touch base with our other forces."

The second half of the army radios in that night. Three of the colonies they passed were already sacked. "But we caught a group of the sprites. We're a day's flight ahead, they don't see us." The Juper lieutenant says, his voice wavering on the ship's radio. Hippolyte hits the control panel to get the signal to stabilize. "They're headed for Oberon."

Oberon, Saturn and Jupiter's shared asteroid. "That's close," Hippolyte murmurs to her in the cabin, eyes focusing in on Oberon's clearly marked dot on the parchment map. "If we cut through the thickest part of the Kuiper ring…" Her hand trails over the map in a clear path to the large colony. "We could come in within a few days and…Our team could lure the flowers out as we approached." She frowned at the implications for her soldiers well being "But if we could capture one of the flowers before it dies…or a seed, even…"

"We could find their source," the professor chimes in, excitement colouring his tone. "Nyx work isn't complete mind you…but I have enough…and I've updated all our systems to scan as far as they have to…"

"And then I'll go to the source alone to destroy it," Serenity concludes, having dreamed of Hippolyte being swallowed in a flower's jaws for the third night in a row. "I'm serious." She says as Hippolyte glares at her. "These are magical beings. They're too far outside any of your weapons capabilities…and don't say the Martians will help. I want to get these things quickly."

"An extra mage or Venefica would not go amiss in a fight with these things." Hippolyte counters. "We'll see how fast Mars can send its warriors once we know these beings origin."

It's the best compromise she'll make with the stubborn Queen. "As long as you focus on getting the evacuees to Pluto." She tells the Queen, retiring to her bunk as they set a frantic course for Oberon.

~_paxlunae_~

"_Noooo!" the Juper Queen's terrified shout rattles her and she rushes towards her, feet carrying her too-quickly across the slippery ice. She burns one of the vines sprouting in her way just as the giant blossom converges on the Queen, standing frozen in its path._

"_Hippolyte move!" she cries out, Moonlight outstretched. But it's too late – once again green teeth flash within bright yellow petals, unfurling into a set of terrifying jaws that swallow the Queen whole. She crashes to her knees on the ice, and slams both fists into the ground. She has failed again. Why doesn't the ice hurt. She sniffs. Why doesn't she cry?_

"_You know" a familiar voice says "there's a certain point where visions give way to nightmares. And you are particularly prone to them." Tana's voice echos around her as the icy vision fades. "You'll do better not to dwell on the specifics."_

"_Dwell on specifics?" she sputters. "I have these dreams to prevent…things."_

"_No," Tana counters, golden light bursting forth in the black dreamscape. "You have them because there are things the Universe finds to be important that you are particularly good at honing in on." The golden light coalesces into the form of the golden crystal before her. "Just so happens this particular event has yet to come to pass."_

_She forgets how to speak as the golden crystal grows before her eyes, images shining in its depths. Tana is kneeling before a throne in a uniform of silver and white that she's never seen before in any memory of the Earth Guardian._

"_Yes well…I was a bit older then." And Serenity is so captivated by Tana's transformation into what can only be Sailor Sol – and the light that seems to radiate from her, she nearly misses Tana's speech as she pulls the golden crystal forth from within her. Serenity's hand comes up to her own locket, hot around her neck, as she takes in this other crystal. It is bigger and less solid than her own. In fact she can see Tana's other hand through the near-transparent gem._

"_I donate this to the crown in my steed," Tana tells the King and Queen (both dressed in formal Selen blues and golds) as she kneels before them. Serenity is shocked to see wrinkles at the corners of Tana's eyes and white where her hair is normally black. And Tana is still talking. "May you use it as I have to keep Metalia contained, until such a time as my successor comes to use it. And may your family and all who are worthy make use of its power afterwards as well._

"_This is…too much Serenity Tana," the King on the throne insists,_

"_To the contrary my friend…you shall have need of it," Tana says, smirking as she closes her eyes. "And truly, I hope to have a while yet to make use of it for myself."_

_Then the transparent gem begins to pulse rapidly between her hands, golden light coming together in its centre. Sweat rolls down Tana's brows "Complete yet divisible," she murmurs under her breath. "Corporeal and unfettered by mortal confines." The clear crystal between her hands takes on a golden hue, shining as the golden light within it becomes more and more concentrated. Tana squints her eyes open, as her hands begin to shake. "Earth…crystal…power," she gasps and the brilliant light within the crystal flashes so brightly the entire throne room is awash in its light. Tana collapses to the stone floor, sailor uniform fading from her body. She looks suddenly exhausted and pale. Serenity is rushing to her along with the two blond royals as the old Guardian drags herself upright. Her hand is clenched around the crystal. as Serenity kneels at Tana's side a pink flash jumps from the crystal back into her chest. The Guardian gasps, colour returning to her face and light to her green eyes. With aid from Earth's young, blond King she stands, uncurling her fist to reveal the fully golden, perfectly smooth crystal in her palm. The very same one that now rests in Serenity's locket. A soft light glows steadily within it. _

_Tana waves her hand, conjuring an elegant staff and letting the Golden Crystal free to float up to the top, where it settles into place in a decorative white jewel setting. She smiles widely as she presents it to the Selen King with a bow. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow her now and again…for a short while longer." And then she turns, and Serenity is startled by the ancient green eyes that stare right at her, as though she is truly there. "We shall be the start of a great age in the Guardianship," she says. "For we know a truth none before us have learned."_

"_What is that?" Serenity and the Selen king ask at the same time._

_But Tana only winks, and Serenity cries out as the vision fades around her. "You already know."_

She awakes with a gasp, shooting up in bed and bumping her head on the ceiling above her narrow bunk.

"Good, you're awake." Hippolyte's voice draws her attention. The Queen is dressed in her full battle clothes, axe already at her waist and Birgir's sword in her belt. She stands with her hands clasped gazing out the narrow window. Serenity grips the Golden Crystal's locket close as she too peers out. A dark asteroid, ends long enough to extend beyond the ship's view, looms outside, lights peppered across its surface.

They have arrived at Oberon.

~_paxlunae_~

"We have a problem," Brioget says as they review the most recent report from the team on the ground. "The Vines are out in force on the Juper side…Saturn's colony has our battalion there defending it but they don't have anymore fire power."

"And the vines are likely advancing on them." Hippolyte ponders. "Best chance – Serenity can assist our soldiers. They can keep the civilians calm and we'll send her down with more liquid fire for them…and the rest of us salvage what we can from the Juper side.

"Separated, no!" Serenity sputters. "Things are more likely to go wrong if we don't stick together…and the Juper side is on the dark side of this rock." Serenity worries her lip between her teeth. "Besides you run evacuations and soldiers better than me. Let's get the vines away from one colony and then go to the other."

"These vines move to fast for that plan to be viable and you know it. Plus if we want to capture a flower we have a better chance attacking from two angles." Hippolyte tilts her head, considering her. "This about your dream, isn't it?"

She realizes suddenly that the Queen must have heard her talking in her sleep and blushes fiercely, but she sticks her chin out and stands her ground. "Yes – something happens to you," she insists. "And every time – I can't stop it."

Hippolyte is quiet for a while, eyes falling on her dead general's sword in her belt. "Are you always there in person…in the dream."

"Y-yes." Serenity sputters.

"And…and how light is it."

"I…I don't know I can always see – why does that matter" she fires back.

"Because," Hippolyte continues calmly. I'll be on the dark side of the asteroid…and away from you," she winks. "So how can your dooms-day dream actually happen?"

Serenity sputters, unable to craft an accurate response. Surely it cannot be as simple as that. "Just…keep me updated," she begs the Juper Queen.

Hippolyte slips a fresh cork communicator to Serenity, squeezing the Guardian's hand between hers. "I will. I promise." Then she's adjusting her helmet on her head, "Now…let's go get these bastards."

~_paxlunae_~

The tundra, glossed over in smooth yellow and pink hues from the nitrogen ice, does nothing to quell Serenity's nerves. But at least Hippolyte will have a lot of back up – _including a magic-user_, she reminds herself as she lands her flying horse in the middle of the quiet settlement.

The Juper commander greets her as she touches ground, and she extends her gloved hand to shake.

"Guard-ian" he says with a tremble in his voice. "So hon-oured." He grins, shaking her hand vigorously and holding on a tad too long for her comfort. "To have some-one so power-ful actually in front of m-me.

She frowns and retracts her hand as soon as he releases it. "And where are the colonists?"

"Being kept safe by my troops beneath their town hall" he says, gesturing to the majestic stone building in the center of the colony. There's no light within it. "We thought, with-out the l-light," he stutters again. "It would be the last p-place the Doxae would look."

"The what?" she asks him.

"Our n-name for the flowers." He grins "Co-could not just keep call-ing them the ali-ens, could we?"

"No…spose not." she murmurs, hand coming up to her ear. "Hippolyte,"

"I copy," the Queen says and a rush of relief fills Serenity at the sound of her voice.

"The colonists are in a secure, central location. Any sign of the sprites?" she asks the man.

"N-none," he stammers, shaking his head.

"Okay…I'm going to be in the town hall to defend them." She tells Hippolyte. "Tell the crew up on the ship…as soon as the sprites or the flowers make an appearance, we make our move."

"Of course," Hippolyte says. "We're approaching the vines now…no flowers or…people. Shit these will take a while to clear."

Serenity nods along as she follows the lieutenant into the dark town hall, murmuring "Sailor Earth power," and her crescent mark lights up the dark room. The lieutenant jumps ahead of her, startled by the light.

"Put th-that out," he whispers. "You'll attra-ct them."

"It'll be easier to defend if there's light," she tells him. Eyes traveling over the room. "Where are the colonists?"

"Below," The Lieutenant gestures to the door off to her left. "They a-are a bit fright-tened – if you c-c-could re-assure them," he says. "I just need to t-tell my partner you've arr-rived."

"Sure," she mutters to the man as she descents into the cellar.

"Status?" she speaks into her comm-cork once she's halfway down the stone steps.

"Vines being dealt with." Hippolyte says. "We're going to sweep the canyon again…surrounding craters, but it doesn't look like there's been much activity…they might be doubling back to be here tomorrow."

"Yeah," she says. "Wait where are the colonists?" she says. It is quite early in the morning…but she hears no breath sounds from within the cellar room. Her crescent light sweeps across the space and her eye catches on something in the corner. "Be careful on your trip back around… It's sunrise."

"I'll be careful," Hippolyte assures her, amusement colouring her tone.

"Yeah," her foot stops midway down the next step as she realizes what she sees in the corner of the cellar. Carefully she places it back on the higher stair, maintaining her talk with Hippolyte the whole time. "And how is the priestess?"

"She knows her stuff, lit em up nearly as quick as you." Hippolyte replies. "Serenity…everything alright."

"Of course it is," she rushes to assure the Queen. Her hand comes to rest on Moonlight as her feet climb higher up the stairs. "Why wouldn't it be?" Her eyes maintain contact with the corner of the cellar.

"Because…you can't lie." The Queen says.

She breathes a sigh of relief as she reaches the top step, feeling the doorknob at her back. "You're right I can't." she says, clearly, hoping the Queen is listening closely. "Hurry back.."

"I will – why suddenly so desperate to see me." The Queen teases.

She swallows hard, eyeing the small vine that protrudes from the wall of the empty room, surrounded by crumbling, yellow petals. "Because," she says. "They're already – " but suddenly something cold passes over her ear and the comm-cork goes dead with a crack. Something even colder wraps around her arm.

"I'm a-afraid I ca-can not let you do th-that Guar-di-an." The stuttering lieutenant says and she stares at his cold hand on her arm as he's suddenly in front of her, face looming close to hers.

"You're helping it!" She accuses. "The vines are already in the cellar. What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, I k-know exactly w-what I am do-ing." He says, and his eyes are suddenly swallowed by bright red light. _"Such brilliant energy you are_." She screams as his form melts into a translucent, yellow sprite in front of her. Its fingers dig into the skin of her arms, draining golden light from within her. "_Must have_…"

_I have to save Hippolyte, _she thinks desperately, fighting to hold onto her power. "Sailor Planet ATTACK!" She screams.

~_paxlunae_~

Kuiper's perpetual darkness and silence is rocked as the miles tall explosion blows cement, wood, and metal up into Oberon's meagre atmosphere and out into the vacuum beyond.

The golden light swallows the Saturni settlement, levelling everything in its path. Across Oberon, the explosion bursts forth over the horizon, turning the twilight air momentarily as light blue as the skies of its planetary cousins.

Amid burning vines and across the icy plane shaking with tremors form the explosion, an army takes notice.

"_Serenity…"_

~_paxlunae_~

She leaps from the ruined cellar in the wake of the explosion, stumbling on the uneven and slippery ground far out onto the undeveloped part of Oberon's surface. Where are the horse?

_Perhaps I scared them off, _she thinks. _And we're too late to get the flowers._ She scowls. She tries her best not to feel relieved. Her hand reaches for her Comm-cork before realizing it was fried. There is no contacting Hippolyte.

_I may as well make my way towards them_. She thinks as she begins to run across the ice, scanning around for more vines. _We'll have to try again on another – "_Ah!" she screams as a plasma blast knocks her off her feet. She lifts herself off the ground and zeros in on the source of the attack. Seven sprites approaching her from above. She hefts Moonlight. She's not nearly ready to release another planet attack now. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" She shouts.

Three of them die instantly in the light of her attack, their human pleas and screams carrying far across the ice. But four more continue down and three of them burst on the way, surrounding Serenity in seeds that sprout as soon as they hit the ground. Vines entrap her legs and torso and she struggles to hack her way out as the cut ends divide rapidly into new tendrils. All the while the fourth sprite converging on her with its arms outstretched. Finally! Moonlight is free. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" She shouts at the monster and it dies under the healing power of her sword. But the vines remain unaffected. They wrestle Moonlight away from her in seconds, pinning her to the ice. She works one hand free, "Earth Rose," she starts to say but is cut off as a vine cinches around her throat and another over her mouth. There's no chance of stopping them.

_I'm sorry, Hippolyte_. She thinks, closing her eyes.

"Get off her!" a commanding voice reaches her ear and suddenly her left arm is free – then her throat and her mouth. She gasps. Her torso is freed next and there's an incredible heat at her side. She sits up.

Hippolyte is approaching her with bow and arrows in hand, shooting them in rapid succession into the vines holding her captive. The plants burst into flames as the weapon hits them.

Finally, the last vine is burnt from her legs and Hippolyte is bending down to her, hauling Serenity to her feet.

"T-thank Ra." Hippolyte gasps. "You sc-ared me."

"I'm alright though." She assures the Queen, aware suddenly of the Queen's tight grip on her arms and the closeness of her face. "H-hippolyte."

"I…" The Queen trails one hand up Serenity's arm until she can brush the blond hair out of the Guardian's face, before curling her hand behind the Guardian's neck. "I th-think."

"What…?" she breathes, wondering why the Queen stutters so. Hippolyte is always so confident.

"I…I l-love you." Hippolyte whispers, and the hand at her neck draws her in before she can react and her brain short circuts as Hippolyte's lips meet her own.

The Queen's grip on her is strong, holding the Guardian close as her knees grow weak under her. She feels herself becoming light headed. She pushes on Hippolyte's arms. "Wait." She says pushing away from the kiss. The light headedness makes it so hard to think. "Where is this."

"I h-have al-ways l-loved y-you." Hippolyte's voice stutters on as if each syllable is unnatural to her. And Serenity's blood freezes in her veins. The Queen never stutters. But someone else on this rock did…exactly like this.

"You're not Hippolyte," she says weakly, the light headed ness making it harder and harder to think.

"Who ca-res." The sprite-Hippolyte says, eyes suddenly consumed by bright red light. "_Just enjoy it_." And the sprite's mouth is back on her own as Serenity struggle's weakly, aware now of the sprite's fingers digging into her skin, draining energy from her rapidly.

She pushes against the sprite only to meet a body that is no longer quite-solid. She feels the cold creeping into her. Her knees buckle. Cold tendrils shoot out of the ground to catch her and she feels the sprite pull away, changing form, she blinks her eyes open in time to watch it collapse in on itself, transforming from a mockery of the Juper Queen into it's normal form and then fading into one large, bright yellow, bud. Before her eyes it begins to grow and unfurl. She scrambles back, caught in the vines, as the flower opens it's jaws ready to swallow her.

"_NO!_" Hippolyte's voice shouts off to her side as the Flower looms above her, jaws opening.

The strong force of the Queen's body crashing into her's dislodges Serenity from the vines grip, and the Guardian watches as the flower dives forward, jaws wide, to snap up Hippolyte in her place, She scrambles for the Queen too late, caught on the vines, as the Flower snaps shut and begins to shrink down, the Queen disappearing within it.

She dives for it, grabbing the flower by the stem before it can disappear completely. "Golden Crystal Power," she screams, directing all her energy into it, keeping the flower frozen in stasis before it can disappear. She lifts her other hand to dispatch the remaining vines without thinking.

"Guardian."

She whirls around, ready to fight. But it is only Brioget, leading the rest of the Juper army out of the skies. She takes in the destruction – burnt vines and scattered ash from the sprites, and Serenity's sword a distance off on the ice sheet. "Where's the Queen?"

~_À Suivre_~


	19. Eris

AN: Oh I left you at a cliff hanger didn't I. XD. I hope you have not suffered too terribly. Here, I think this should remedy things.

Disclaimer: I totally own this. I am secretly Naoko herself. That is fact. I am also well versed in sarcasm.

Last Time On Pax: I was an evil author and left you with Hippolyte swallowed up by the mysterious carnivorous flowers, a Kuiper wide infestation of vines, and an unsettling revelation: Somehow, the kidnapped colonists and soldiers are related to the super powerful sprites! Will Hippolyte survive? Can Serenity banish these all on her own? Stick around, this is a chapter you don't wanna miss.

**Eris**

"_Serenity?"_

_She turns, wincing as the movement irritates her stiff joints. "It's been centuries with me round your family, Lena…surely we can abandon titles by now?"_

"_Well, it has only been a few decades for me," Lena chuckles, coming to stand beside her in the window. "You have been pensive."_

_She hums in agreement. "So little is known about what I am."_

"_And you've made a great effort to solve those mysteries," Lena assures her._

_She smiles, shaking her head. "I've spent a millennia and more understanding what I am…but tis little more than a drop in the sea of Sol's mysteries."_

"_But you're so wise – I'm sure you'll answer so many more."_

"_Lena…" she laughs. "You needn't bolster my confidence so. I know I have done far more in my time than many others." _

"_Then what has you so thoughtful lately?"_

_She takes a moment to answer, rubbing her hands together against the chill in the air. "As surely as Sol rises and sets. I have not the time to leave anymore knowledge behind."_

"_Huh?"_

_She looks at her hands – now so wrinkled. It was amazing how long it took for her to reach what other mortals regard as old age. "I am dying Lena. Even now, the light of Mars shines more brightly in the sky."_

"_Wait – but, but…"_

"_I've had more than enough time by any measure," she consoles the young woman. "This is nothing that I fear… I have only been pensive because it seems the drawing near of my final day has caused an unexpected side effect."_

"_Are you pain?"_

"_No," save for the natural aches and pains of age she is fine (though she does pull her cloak closer. While it took centuries, there's no denying that the autumn chill now sinks deep into her bones.)_

"_Then what is it?"_

"_Dreams," she says, "more vivid than I've ever had - and of so many, many futures." She closes her eyes savouring a particular one – of flying over the ocean towards a magnificent Earthling sunrise. "Some futures dazzle me, they are so bright. But…" she sighs, breath curling up in a small cloud "there is so much pain coming before any of them are even possible…and even then: the far future swings between the extremes of light and dark and even the smallest event gone awry could tip the scales in the darker direction." She turns towards Lena, feeling a peculiar sense of de-ja-vu staring into the young woman's amber eyes. _I have looked upon so many like them. Why do they startle me so now? _She ponders. _Perhaps they resemble eyes of one I've yet to meet. _"You'll keep an eye on my crystal, yes?"_

"_Of course."_

"_You must," she stresses. "And keep my diaries somewhere safe as well. I know not when they will be needed but…"_

"_I will ensure they are safe," Lena swears."In fact I'll ensure they are stored separately."_

"_That would be wise considering what I've seen."_

"_Can you tell me what's coming?" Lena asks earnestly._

_She closes her eyes, recalling all that she can of the futures. "You'll live to see a time of darkness befall the Guardian…which shall not be resolved till long after little Artum is old. And while there shall be peace…the measures the powerful will take to control my kind shall, I fear, grow more pernicious." She returns her intense gaze to Lena. "There is a chance though, of a great future coming pass. And the knowledge I've gained in my life is integral to it – especially that crystal," she says, nodding to the staff Lena keeps with her constantly – the most adept at wielding the crystal of any of the Selen children. "Nothing I have seen can happen without it, and then only if future Guardians come to understand their powers as I have. Especially that – "_

She is startled awake by the beeping of all the professor's machines, and leaps up from the floor of the cargo hold as the boots of Juper soldiers scramble down into the room.

The professor himself barely reacts; he's busy scribbling in his notebook as he absently reaches out to shut off whatever is making the noise.

"I've got it," he croaks, turning off the device that's been analysing the flower and grabbing his notebook. "Here – bring me that map."

Two soldiers do and Serenity leans close as the Professor examines it, comparing it to his notes, and taking a pencil to the parchment, draws a fine line across the paper. "There it is." He says, tapping the pencil against the coordinates he's traced. "The flower's energy stems from there." Under the pencil tip, drifting across the outermost regions of Kuiper, is a large sphere with a word scrawled under it.

_Eris_.

"That's a week from here," Brioget worries. "At least with the chariots along."

"And how far by ship?" Serenity asks, adjusting the axe that rests heavily against her hip.

"Three days."

"Then we leave most of the army behind. They can continue evacuating colonies." Serenity says. "If this is the source of the flowers they won't do much good anyways."

"You want to take one ship against however many of these things there are?" the professor gapes.

"No," she says. "I'm going alone. These vines and flowers – they're too dangerous for anyone else. You'll keep the ship at a distance."

"I'll radio the Martians in any case," Brioget says. "If they can send even one of their Veneficii it could make a difference."

Serenity nods. "And whatever fire power you have."

"Right," Brioget turns to her crew. "I want all the liquid fire on this ship in 10 minutes. Then all of you," she meets the eyes of each of her soldiers "take our chariots, and set out for Pluto. You're only to approach colonies along the way IF there are no vines or sprites in the area."

"All due respect Lieuten-."  
"Commander," Brioget snaps. "Commander, until further notice. I act in the Queen's place. She would tell you to retreat – and so am I."

The room is silent for a long while before the soldiers bow to Brioget and take their leave, radioing the troops outside to begin transferring firepower from the chariots to the ship.

"Three days is still too long?" She tells the professor.

"Well the only way to push her faster will result in severe damage to the –"

"Do it," she orders. "I want us there in two."

~_paxlunae_~

Eris looms below her – covered in a hazy atmosphere and below it, thick vines that grow miles above it's surface, cutting off the whole of the dwarf world from outside. She grips the door harder as the movement of the Schooner's canon rocks the entire craft. It swings into position near silently. She can just see the lip of it below the ship. Her toes edge outside of the craft, ready to make her move.

"_Canons locked. 35 degrees by 178." _Brioget's voice sounds in her ear._ "Guardian ready?"_

"Ready"

"_3…2…1…fire!"_

She jumps as the Canon shoots off, propelling a barrel of liquid fire down towards Eris vine-covered surface. The wooden container breaks apart upon contact with the atmosphere igniting the gel within it instantly. She raises the axe just in time to deflect flecks of the barrel from hitting her skin. She races through the atmosphere behind the burning gel, spinning as she picks up speed.

She watches as it hits the layer of vines, bright red flames growing brighter as they suck up the heavy oxygen over Eris. From all directions, new vines swarm in to cover the breach.

"It's not burning through fast enough," the professor says in her ear as she spins faster and faster towards their target.

"Won't matter," she shouts, drawing both weapons. "Moonlight BLAST!"  
The sword and axe each light up bright gold as twin slashes hack through the burning vines ahead of her. She passes through the hole as the fire cauterizes the vines before they can divide, still spinning uncontrolled towards Eris surface.  
She stows both weapons and prepares for the crash landing as she rushes closer and closer towards the blackness below.

_Here goes_, she thinks, bracing her arms over her head, hoping she'll roll through the fall.

A sudden cold surrounds her with a splash as she slams through the still water of a lake, she gasps and chokes on the frigid water. floundering under the weigh of both weapons she gets back to the surface.  
"You said n-nothing a-b-b-bout a lake," she stammers, shivering as she treads through the water. Damn it, she never was a strong swimmer.  
"All the ice must have melted" the professor summises. "Fascinating: the vines must produce a lot of heat."  
"I hardly think its fascinating." Brioget replies.  
she ignores them, focused on the sliver of land she can see now that her crescent beam is lit.  
Once she's on her own feet again she trains her eyes up. The vines are miles above her head "They can't see me," she murmurs. "I need to find their source."  
"I think...yes there is a heat signature about 2 miles from you," the professor says.  
"Which way?"  
"Towards 87 degrees by 111."  
"Brioget, which way?"  
"Watch the vines overhead. We'll hit em with something. Head in the direction they start moving from."  
She waits, a muted crack sounding overhead as they hit the vines with something heavy. The green tendrils ripple overhead, Swarming towards the intrusion. She squints. Pulses of light are traveling through the vines from one direction in particular.  
"Keep that up," she tells them as She begins to run around the lake towards the source.

It takes precious time to work her way around the lake, stumbling over rocks on her trek. Her crescent light can only light a small portion of the area. She keeps her sword drawn as she moves but no vines or sprites appear anywhere near her.

The pulses moving through the vines have dispersed by the time she's climbing a particularly steep ridge, the latest batch of lights having originated just beyond it.

"_We have incoming_." Brioget says. "_Sprites just materialized over the entry point."_

"Just hold them a while longer," she tells the Juper warrior as she hauls herself to the top of the ridge. "I'm…woah."

A massive stalk – what must be hundreds of vines twined around each other - looms in front of her, stretching up miles into the atmosphere, where it splits off into the millions of tendrils blocking Eris surface from view. The ridge is part of a deep fissure it has split open in the ground. She scans down into it with her crescent beam. She cannot see the bottom. the base of the vine too extends beyond her view – hundreds of miles down towards Eris' heart.

"I need to get down there," she murmurs. "no, wait…I need to get _in _there."

"_In where," _Brioget queries.

"Hippolyte was taken by the flower…I'm sure she and the others are somewhere within the plant if they're still alive…and if this is the source of all our trouble…" she takes in the breadth of the vine…each vine in the stalk must be atleast a building's length. And somewhere, deep below Eris surface, they must all join to the same base.

Closing her eyes, she lets out a long breath, and breaths in again in an easy, meditative rhythm.

She can feel Eris, the faint energy of the dwarf world flickers as she makes contact with it. Leeching off it is the much stronger energy of the vine, roots splitting through Eris core. It will soon tear the young world apart.

And within the vine, thousands of other energies linger, swirling together as the vine feeds off them all.

She seeks deeper and deeper into the chaotic mess beneath Eris, seeking one energy in particular. There!

_She's alive_. _I just have to get to her._ "Stand by," she says, hoping Brioget is listening. She can't risk cutting into the vine…and she has no way to know how far down she'll have to climb to reach its base…

But surely she has enough power for this small jump.

_Hippolyte_…she thinks, concentrating on the Queen's energy. _I am going to find you_.

"Sailor…TELEPORT!" she shouts, golden energy shooting up around her as she fades away within it, magic transporting her deep within the surface of Eris.

~_paxlunae_~

She has barely materialized when a plasma blast shoots past her, narrowing missing her face.

_How did they find me_! She scrambles out of the way of three more energy blasts, taking in the place she's been transported too.

Sprites surround her on all sides, gathering plasma blasts at their finger tips as fast as they can. She ducks as one dives at her and launches off a "Rose Monsoon" when it explodes into millions of seeds.

She runs around them in the circular, green room – no doubt a chamber deep within the center of the plant. She ducks and twists away from the next barrage of blasts. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" she shouts, and ten of the dozens of sprites evaporate amid a chorus of screams. She readies another Healing Purge just as twenty more seep out of the walls.

_There's so many_.

"I'm surrounded." She reports as she takes out another third of the overwhelming force against her. "They still bothering you?"

"Most have retreated back beneath the vines" Brioget says. "Hang on, we'll try to draw their attention back."

She cries out as two blasts clip her shoulder, pushing her to the floor. "No use." She says as a circle of the sprites surround her. "I don't think they'll bite."

"You must have teleported close to something they don't want you to find." Brioget says.

_I probably did_. She thinks as she stares up at the sprites above her. Many have plasma ready at their fingers but they do not attack _Maybe they don't want to waste power if I'm already surrounded. _She drags herself to her knees as more flock to her. One of them glides towards her but she forces herself to ignore it – confident a good "Healing Purge" will hold it off should it try to transform into a flower. _What don't they want me to see._

The room she is in has no exits. It is one of what must be many stalks within the vines. Fine, green cells make up the cylindrical walls and the stalk stretches up too high for her to see a ceiling. _What about below_? She thinks, glancing down.

The floor below her is a spiral of green, many celled like the walls.

But…she traces the spiral of green beneath her fingers…It isn't smooth.

_Of course_, she thinks, remembering a lesson from long ago about how roses grew. _It's a valve_. She checks overhead – the closest sprite is even now shrinking down into a flower bud. The others watch her carefully. _I have to be quick…_

"MOONLIGHT BLAST!" she shouts, taking her broadsword and stabbing it into the green floor. It rips open beneath her and she begins to fall deeper into the plant, new, small vines, already sprouting out of the cuts. They're hindering the sprites, she notes with intrigue.

_Perhaps they're not as ghostly as I thought. _She raises her free hand. This won't do her any good – but it'll surely confuse them "Earth Thorn Hurricane!"

The whirlwind of barbs shoots from her palm, piercing the vine stalk in a chaotic fashion. New vines sprout inwards, twining together, creating a barrier between she and the sprites as all of them become tangled.

_Good riddance_! She thinks and spins in the air, just in time to slam hard onto a unforgiving green floor. She groans. "damn it"

"_You all right down there?"_ Brioget asks through their comm-cork.

"I'm…" her voice dies as she looks around the room she's fallen into, ambient green light painting the whole scene a sickening hue. "Oh no…"

"_Guardian?"_

"I found…" her voice trails off as she stands, forcing herself to look at the many tubers lining the wall. "I found it's food…"

Within the tubers – bright yellow and green, are the trapped skeletons and bodies of who, she is sure, are the colonists. One shrivelled corpse on her left wears the decaying blue uniform of a Uranian soldier. Many more around the room wear similar garb. She, swallows as she wanders further into the spiralling chamber. She can even see the Jupers' signature pinks and greens.

"The sprites are formed with the colonists energy." She informs the listeners above Eris. "I've just found the colonists they stole it from."

"_Shit!" _Brioget hisses. "_Is that why they all sound like humans when they die?"_

"Afraid so."  
"_Amazing," _the professor's voice comes through. "I say, are they in cells of some sort – green, likely feeding pods?"

"_Did you just call them amazing_?"

"Yes they are," Serenity says, pushing back her annoyance with the aloof man. "I think…it must use them to generate new seeds…and flowers."

"_A parasite…" _the professor says. "_Listen here – it took a lot of people on Oberon…I say it would have needed an entire new segment of root system to contain that much new energy._"

"The only way to go is down." She says, running through narrowing tunnel of the root. "Maybe…" She stops, closes her eyes, and tries to focus. She doesn't have enough energy to teleport again. _But I can still sense her…_

_Hippolyte…_

The queen's energy is deep within the root system – flickering. Her run through the tunnel turns into a sprint and she keeps her eyes closed, focused on Hippolyte's energy.

It leads her to the left into a new branch of the roots, and a further left. The roots down here are unpleasantly hot – they must be dangerously close to Eris heart.

She turns to the right and goes further down. She is sliding down a sharp incline on the slice lining of the tunnel when her concentration is shattered by a plasma blast slamming her in the chest. She slams to the ground, sliding the rest of the way down the root shaft and bumping her on one of the walls as it finally evens out.

"_You've come to visit me?_" She forces herself to look towards the source of Hippolyte's voice, already knowing what she'll see.

"Stop wearing her face." She tells the sprite as she gets to her feet. "I know what you are."

"_But, Serenity." _The Sprite who appears as Hippolyte right down the the girdle about its waist smirks. "_It _is _me_."

Her hand darts to her sword, unwilling to play its games.

"Moonlight Healing Purge!" The golden light fills the blade, arcing across the tunnel straight towards the false Queen. She begins to scan the tunnel as the light engulfs the sprite.

Only to vanish as a shriek slices through the air – the sound of metal on metal. She whirls back towards the Sprite in time to dodge the plasma blast aimed at her and gasps.

The Sprite has deflected her attack on a blade – an axe that gleams the neon-yellow of the plasma attacks.

"_Interesting," _the sprite swings it's axe lazily through the air. _"You have the replica of this I see…and I believe you owe me a rematch."_

"How do you know that?" She demands. It knows her name, it knows of her last duel with the Queen. It even holds its axe the way Hippolyte would.

"_I told you, I _am_ the Queen_."

She brings her sword up, unnerved as the Sprite bows as though this were a formal duel. "_And we..begin_!" she launches towards it, meeting it blade for blade before spinning away – _it's strong!_ She steps back in with a swing to it's left, then right, but the two-sided axe deflects both moves easily. She goes for it's legs on instinct, intent on kicking them out from beneath it but meets nothing but air. It seems it is only as solid as it wants to be.

"_You cannot best me," _The false Queen leers as it reaches down and grabs her by the front of her uniform – cold hand gripping tightly to the Golden Crystal's brooch. "_But I shall take this bright energy and you shall join me_."

"I'm going to save her." She says as the sprite begins to drain energy away from her. She feels her uniform dissolving.

"_I don't need to be saved."_

"She does," Serenity says, free hand going to the unused axe at her waist, an idea forming in her head. "Hippolyte would never have left this axe behind."

"_It is only a weapon," _The sprite laughs, eyes glowing golden as it leeches energy from her.

"Wrong." Serenity says, "Every sword, every axe, is more than a tool. It becomes part of the person who wields it." She hefts Hippolyte's axe in her hand. "Hippolyte forged this herself, exacted justice through it, led armies with it. It is just as much a part of her as Moonlight is of me." She feels the last vestiges of her Sailor power concentrating within her, the axe begins to glow. "And it is …far superior, to that imposter you hold."

"_Why you…"_

She swings the Axe up as the Sprite swings its own. The two weapons meet with a sharp crack as well forged steel cleaves against the plasma-metal.

The Sprite's sword shatters, Hippolyte's weapon obliterating it and continuing on to slice deep into the Sprite. The cold fingers lose their grip on her brooch and she feels her power rushing back. The sprite stumbles back, corporeal for a moment, as Hippolyte's form melts away, revealing its true form.

"You might have her energy, and her memories, but you'll never match her." She tells it, raising Axe and Sword as one. "Moonlight Healing PURGE!"

Her power races from her arms and through both weapons, engulfing the sprite in a column of light. She braces herself for Hippolyte's panicked voice, but is in no way prepared for what the Queen says.

"Serenity…" Hippolyte's voice is eerily calm compared to the many voices of those she's freed from the sprites. "Goodbye."

"Hippolyte!" She shouts, her voice echoing in the empty tunnel as the golden light fades. She spots a light green energy lingering in the air, flying deeper into the tunnel. She sprints after it.

"_What just happened_?" The professor's voice asks through the comm-cork.

"_Serenity, I heard what it said."_

"I am _almost_ there!" She growls, watching as the green light darts around a corner, she is seconds behind it, nearly tumbling to a halt in the small new chamber. "Hippolyte!" she gasps.

"_You found her_?"

She has.

The ball of green light rushes back into the green tuber which hold's Hippolyte's limp body. She rushes to it, watching as it is absorbed back into the Queen…only to join a continuous stream of energy draining from the tuber up into the root system. She punches the cellulous prison though it doesn't budge, nor does the Queen react. "Hang on," she says, lifting her sword. "Hang on." She slams the weapon into the tuber, leaving a deep cut in it. green liquid begins to ooze from the crack. "Hang on, hang on." She hacks at it again, afraid to use an attack lest she hurt the Queen. After three tries she lifts the axe in her other hand and puts all of her weight behind the swing.

The fissure in the tubor widens, ooze flooding out as it fractures and splits all the way open. She drops both weapons in time to catch the Queen as she pitches forward still covered in the ooze. Serenity lowers them to the floor, hearing the sounds of many sprites approaching them from the tunnels. "Hippolyte," she murmurs, tapping the Queen's cheek. "damn it, wake up. We have to go." But the Queen doesn't wake. She fumbles for her sword, pressing it gently to the Queen's body. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" She shouts, watching the golden light rush into the Queen. It banishes the green plant ooze covering her and heals a scratch that had scabbed over on her face. She grins. "That's better," and shakes her. "Come on, don't make me carry you."

But still, the Queen remains unconscious. Worse, Serenity realizes she is cold.

"Hippolyte?"

"_Check her pulse_." Brioget advises, and Serenity swallows the lump in her throat as she presses two fingers to Hippolyte's neck.

"_Guardian_."

"I don't understand…" her voice cracks as she moves her fingers, still seeking. "Healing Purge should have…"

"_I can hear the sprites incoming_." Brioget shouts at her. "_We tried, Guardian. If she doesn't have a pulse you need –"_

"I'm not leaving her." She snaps, shaking the Queen again. "I'll just try Healing Purge."

"_It won't work_." The professor sighs.

"What do you know," She screams at him, "Moonlight Healing Purge!" Golden light engulfs the chamber, blinding her, flooding out into other parts of the roots. She hears the distant screams of sprites falling to the attack.

But as the light fades, Hippolyte remains cold and still in her arms.

"Why isn't it working." She chokes. "Come on…it's just energy…it should work.

Silence is her only reply as she leans over the Queen, letting her tears fall freely. "It should have worked.

"_I think…Guardian please understand." _The professor's voice is gentle, lacking its usual arrogance. "_This plant…I do not believe it uses energy as your Youma do…I believe it lives off others souls."_

"Souls." She sniffs. "How is that different?"

"_Normal Energy can be restored…a good meal, a night's rest, a jump start from your sword. That's what is needed to heal wounds, banish negative energy like the Sprites and Youma, that is what your sword does…but a soul is different."_

"_It healed her though."_

"_It healed her body." _The professor sighs. "_But that is, as I've said, physical energy…a soul is magic. Like your golden crystal. Your sword could no more replenish that than it could create a star."_

"Then we need to heal her soul," she says. "I saw part of it – the green light that came from her sprite…she's still got it."

"_But it is weakened." _The professor says. "_As all souls eventually do. And when they cannot sustain a life anymore…"_

"_Don't," _she snaps at him._ "She saved my life, don't you dare."_

"_She made a worthy sacrifice." _Brioget says hoarsely. "_Don't let it be in vain. I can see the vines up here moving like crazy. Get out of there."_

"Not yet!" she insists. She takes a deep breath and sits up, gazing down at the Queen's pale face. "Your soul…"

"_They'll do much more serious harm with your power!" _Brioget continues to argue.

She reaches up and plucks the communicator from her ear, tossing it away.

_My power_, she thinks, remembering what the professor had said. _A magic like my Golden Crystal…_

"_It's the seed, if you will, of the planet Earth," _Zinea had said to her so long ago now. _"And part of the soul of Earth's guardian."_

Tana had seen a need to separate the Golden Crystal from herself so that it's power could keep Earth safe in her absence.

If it could be divided from it's companion Guardian…and contained enough power to defend the Earth for nigh-on 5,000 years…surely it was strong enough to be split one more time.

"Tana." She says. "I've seen you do this…lend me the words to repeat the feat one more time."

One hand rises to the brooch over her breast and it pops open, the Golden Crystal's light warming the entire cavern. It floats free of it's confines and into her palm.

_The words matter not, for they must fit the task_, Tana tells her. _The Golden Crystal seeks the guidance of your will. You must only direct it's power._

She closes her eyes, "Hippolyte," she says. "This Crystal has been shared by Earth's people for millennia. It's power may grow stronger still, and exists in tandem with my own. She feels the power within her growing as the crystal in her hand becomes hot. "So now I give you a piece of this crystal – the Earth's soul – to strengthen and sustain your own." Her crescent mark is burning as she opens her eyes, watching the light within the golden crystal concentrate at it's center. "_Golden Crysal Power," _she whispers, and watches as a bright light splits from the golden crystal, rushing into the Queen's chest. She sags forwards as the golden crystal's light fades, the gem floating once more into its lavender brooch. She struggles to keep her eyes open against sudden fatigue. "Hippolyte," she whispers, pressing a kiss to the Queen's forehead as she leans over her. "Please, please work."

She can hear a fresh round of sprites advancing towards them, and steals herself to complete one last task of banishing the plant from Eris.

A faint _thump_ beats against her fingers.

"Seren…" Hippolyte's whisper sounds like music as it reaches her ear. She smiles as she meet's the waking Queen's dark green eyes.

"Hold on," She says, closing her eyes and holding the Queen tighter. She forces her attention away from themselves and out beyond the roots. Into Eris nearby core, so small and cool compared to the large planets of Sol. _Your soul's tired too_, she reaches out to the small world. _But together I think we have enough power for just this…last…thing…_

"SAILOR PLANET…ATTACK!"

~_paxlunae_~

Brioget storms back and forth across the cabin deck, useless comm-cork crushed in her fist. She's lost contact with the Guardian. Eris seems to have swallowed the emotional fool. Her Queen is dead.

_Dead…_ she swipes an angry hand against her cheek. _When we fought so hard._

"C-commander," the irritating professor stammers. "You…you may want to look at this."

"At what!" she snaps, storming up to the window. But her anger dies in her throat.

Bright light pierces through the vines over Eris north and south poles, golden beams of energy that are stretching out as far as she can see. Still more beams of light are punching through the cover of vines, charring the plants. She gapes as the lights shoot out at random from all directions, growing brighter and more frequent, until the whole dwarf world is awash on gold…She watches as it pulses and brightens, her hands fly to the control panels just in time. The light around Eris swells and explodes outward, rocking their ship and sending them swinging through the air. She hears the professor crash to the floor and many projectiles ricocheting into the ship, slamming into the roof, the windows, the hull. She pulls herself to her feet and peeks out through the glass.

Outside, awash in gold, the Eris is crumbling, shredding apart as the vines are burnt and ripped from it. She sees thousands of sprites dissolving outside, bright lights in many colours dissolving into space as the demons fade. Bits of stone from Eris continue to shoot outward until at last the explosion stills, golden light fading, and the many chunks of rock and ice now free of the vines settle into a ring in the space their world once resided.

And where the heart of Eris used to be, she gapes, a light remains glowing, protecting two figures from the unforgiving nature of space. She sees the Serenity's blond hair, and another figure – black haired, tanned, sitting up, supporting the exhausted Guardian.

"Ra…" she mutters, hands flying to the controls as she fires up the ship's engines. "In all the stories I've heard…nothing like…" she sighs. "Your Guardian scares me shitless sometimes."

She sets their course as the professor flounders to right himself, "Get the door open." She tells her soldiers. "We're picking up some strays."

~_paxlunae_~

"_Serenity…"_

_She smiles as the warm voice greets her, opening her eyes onto a bright white dreamscape. "Tana!"_

"_You have done well." The old guardian praises. "The Guardians of Saturn themselves could not have achieved such a feat."_

"_What does that mean?" she grins. _

"_Oh a story for another dream, perhaps." Tana hums and she sees the old guardian's silhouette draw together before her. "How is our crystal."_

"_It is..weakened." she says, and the Golden Crystal appears in her palm. "But as I'll be set to rights in a few hours, I think it shall grow strong on it's own soon as well." She can feel even now it's energy replenishing. "Normal souls can't do that, I wonder why this can."_

"_An answer I was still seeking upon my departure from your realm," Tana says. "In the end I think we both have discovered the answer."_

"_What is it."_

"_Oh but you know," Tana chuckles. "The knowledge that shall aid all Guardians after us…ensure the future."_

"_Tell me I don't know." She pouts. "You told the old King of Earth in my dream a week past but I didn't hear the end."_

"_You already know it," She see's Tana's silouhette shake her head. "Fine, I shall put it into words for you. Our power is,"_

"_Guardian!" A sharp plea cuts Tana off, shattering her dreamscape, she whirls around to total blackness. "Guardian, help me!"_

_She knows the young voice. "Phaeton!" She calls._

"_Guardian please," the young boy begs. "Please help me…"_

_His voice comes from everywhere. She focuses on him, feeling his panic as he reaches out desperately for her. _He's praying_, she realizes. _

_Suddenly she sees Phaeton, in small robes so similar to his fathers and kneeling on a wood floor, another person huddled behind him. "Guardian, please." The young boy prays with his hands clasped. "Serenity…please,"_

_She reaches out for the image, sensing the evil surrounding it. She must get to him._

She wakes, lifting her head from her arms and glancing all around. She had fallen asleep by Hippolyte's bed, keeping a watch over the exhausted Queen as she slept – for a dazing Hippolyte's comfort as well as her own. The golden crystal is hot in her chest and all her senses are abuzz with what she's just seen in the dream.

"I'll be back soon," she whispers, pressing a kiss to the sleeping Queen's brow. She closes the door to the bunk gently behind her and makes her way to the Cabin.

"You're awake!" Brioget says pushing out of the Captain's chair. "Serenity it's been four hours, go back to your rest"

"Can't," she says, transforming into Sailor Earth. "Something is wrong in Elysium."

She holds onto Phaeton's voice in her head, preparing for the long jump.

"SAILOR TELEPORT!"

~_paxlunae_~

She appears within the cloister of the Guardian leaning on the golden pillar for support. The jump has taken quite a bit out of her without the additional help of another planet. She sees The Mother's Golden habit as the woman rushes to her.

"Serenity!" she says. "Oh thank, Ra."

"Something's happened?" She asks, taking in the thick, purple clouds overhead.

"It's Metalia," she says, ushering Serenity into the temple. "Metalia's taken over the Palace."

~_À Suivre_~


	20. Metalia

AN: Yes I gave you cliff-hangers two chapters in a row…I'd apologise…but that would imply I intended to stop. We're in the final arc of _Pax Lunae _now. Be prepared. Grand Finale's like this get messy…

Disclaimer: We all agree I don't get paid to do this right? Right.

Last Time On _Pax_: Hippolyte was saved! The vines infesting Eris were eradicated. Serenity thought all was well until Phaeton's prayers sent her teleporting back to Earth to a dire situation. Metalia had taken over Elysium! Stay tuned, It all ends…right now!

Metalia

"_The storm rolled in last night" Zinea said in a rush as Serenity walked out of the temple to the front gates. "All the youma – Guardian I've never seen so many. They're everywhere!" _

She crests the top of the hill on Palace Way, the palace walls looming over her (and behind them the darkened royal residence – its towers and turrets obscured behind thick, angry purple storm clouds).

"_I can handle them," She assured the priestess, drawing Moonlight as she stepped across the protected temple gate._

"_But Metalia – Milady I've no idea how it broke through. Even with Terrio's meddling, the protections Tana and the Selens erected should still have kept it out of Elysium. Unless…"_

She saw the youma rise from the tops of the Palace walls – like wicked watchmen – shrieking as they dove towards her.

"_Unless Terrio invited it in," The Mother said_.

"EARTH THORN HURRICANE!" A maelstrom of barbs spun forth from her open palms, tearing the hundreds of Youma apart as they converged on her.

"_It doesn't matter, I'll handle Metalia," she promised. _

_And then the King and I shall come to terms, _she thinks as the remains of the youma fall as ash around steps up to the grand, central gates of the palace – sparkling and inviting despite the circumstances, and pushes them. They fall open with a flourish, and she steps through into the central courtyard of her childhood home.

_Where is everyone_?

There are no bodies in the courtyard, nor accessories of anyone who ran as the demon overtook them. Under the eerie magenta light of the storm clouds the courtyard is barren. Her sandals clack evenly along the cobblestone walk as she scans the area. Youma are rushing in from the city to confront her, but they're a ways off. She'll certainly find Phaeton before they reach her.

She can feel Metalia's malevolent energy within. It makes her skin crawl as she puts her hand at last on the Palace's great wooden doors. These are stuck in place. She summons Moonlight to her hand.

"Moonlight Blast!" she shouts. The attack blasts the doors in, slamming them into the floor so hard that cracks split open in the stone. She steps into the darkened hall.

"Metalia!" she calls. "You can hear me, I'm sure."

"_Quite clearly," _the demon's voice seems to echo from within the walls._ "At last I face you again guardian. You are much different from the last one…You're weaker." _

"I'm stronger than you know," Serenity says, spinning around. There is nothing to indicate the demon's location. "Show yourself!"

"_I do not abide by the rules of your petty duels!" _the demon laughs; the ear-splitting sound shakes the building and shatters windows all along the hall. "_Besides you've other problems to deal with."_

And suddenly purple smoke is rising up from the floor before her, collecting into a cloud as an image appears on it.

Her heart stops.

"Phaeton…"

"Guardian," his voice wobbles. "Guardian please help us…"

She takes in his form – paler than he should be. Dark circles under his eyes make him appear an old man rather than a boy of nine. His hands are raised and the aura of magic around him is impossible to ignore. She reaches out as the boy's image sways, his body nearly toppling over. But the cloud dissipates as she does. She clenches her fist. "What have you done to him?"  
"_Nothing at all," _the demon's booming laugh sends the chandelier crashing to the floor._ "He is so irritatingly noble, insists on defending his princely companion from my spells. But as I'm sure you see, he doesn't have much magic left to use…"_

And then it seems as if all the heat is sucked from the room and she is left with silence and darkness in the palace entrance hall.

She does not have enough magic left to spare to sense Phaeton's energy – and in fact the palace is so saturated by the energies of many people that she'd be hard pressed to try. Instead she heads for the dungeons. If Phaeton has run anywhere, it's to his father.

~_paxlunae_~

She encounters only four small groups of Youma on her way down to the dungeons. They barely garner her attention as she blasts through them with a wave of her hand. _Metalia can't possibly think they'll waylay me for long, _she thinks as she kicks in the door of the dungeons and charges down the hall.

She skids to a halt in front of Helios cell and swears profusely at the door, which is swung wide open. Helios is gone.

And Phaeton is nowhere to be found.

_Then Ronan's room_, she thinks as she charges back upstairs. _Perhaps the boys retreated there_.

_But then where is Helios? _

~_paxlunae_~

As she bursts into the second floor hallway lined with the children's rooms, she knows she has guessed right. Youma swarm in from the doors and windows, some sinking through the ceiling. Their eyes and mouths glow an angry red as they shriek at her, shooting energy blasts at her from every direction.

She ducks, rolls, and shoots off an Earth Thorn Hurricane as she passes underneath them, following it up quickly with a Rose Monsoon. She pants as she gets to her feet, head spinning.

She was fighting in the Kuiper belt mere hours ago and the use of magic is finally catching up with her.

The building around her shakes as Metalia laughs. "_Pathetic little mortal_."

She ignores it, opening the door of Ronan's room.

It's empty.

"Phaeton!" she calls, checking the privy, the inside of the bureau, and under the bed. "Ronan!"

"In here!" a rough voice calls from down the hall. She whirls around, running from Ronan's room. She can seem more youma rushing in from the stairs. "Boys!" she calls again.

"Terra!" She hears the voice again, deeper than Ronan's was when she last saw him. She can finally pin point the location though. _I am an idiot_, she thinks, as she runs to the end of the hall and turns the handle of the final door, entering her old room for the first time in a year.

She rushes to Phaeton, kneeling in the corner behind her old writing desk, the boy lowers his hands and collapses on her, at last dropping the protective spell he'd used to keep them safe from the youma.

"T-terra," his companion says. Her eyes dart up to the other boy, no, young man, in the corner and frowns.  
"Augusto?" she asks. "Where is Ronan?"  
Augusto sniffs, standing. He is holding his left arm close to him, the forearm twisted at a painful angle. Scratches litter his face and hands. And he's shivering – the result, she's sure, of taking the brunt of a few energy blasts. "R-ronan's dead."

She gasps. _Dead….no, impossible. Not…not… _"How?"

"He – he and Phae came to rescue me," he says. "They got Helios, and then came to get me, and when Helios couldn't stop Metalia, Ronan tried and…and,

_No…_

"Please," Augusto cried. "It'll come after me, please. It's got everyone else. You have to save us… sister."

"Save it," she says, lifting Phaeton's body into her arms and standing. "Are the horses still in the stables?"

"I d-don't know," he mumbled.

_There's no where safe I can put them here, _she thinks. _And I have to get to Metalia._

"Well come on, they're our best shot," she says, raising a hand as a crowd of Youma crash through the window and the open door. Rose petals burst from her palm, dusting the youma in seconds.

Augusto's eyes are wide as he scurries after her. "How did you do that?"

She rolls her eyes, storming out into the hall and throwing open the door of the servants stairwell. "Sailor Earth Power," she whispers as the soft light of her crescent mark illuminates the pitch-black stairs. _Ronan is dead_, her stomach twists as they descend towards the ground floor. "How did this happen," she commands Augusto as they walk carefully down the narrow stairs. She'd love to run, but she doubts the injured prince will be able to keep up.

"Father," Augusto says. "He had this amulet, and he summoned the demon with it… He wanted to use some spell in the Grimoire to absorb Metalia's magic.

"What's the Grimoire?"

"It's this book from some Martian mage," Augusto says. "Has all sorts of spells in it. He's been obsessed trying to control M-metalia – even traded Cecelia to Uranus for it."

Phaeton stirs in her arms as she steps onto the ground floor landing, mind spinning. "And why not just leave Metalia to me?" she grouses. _Cecelia's on Uranus? Ronan is dead..? Where is Helios?_

"He thought you'd take the throne!" Augusto cries at her. "It's stupid. If you hadn't gone and gotten your powers none of this would have happened!"

"Metalia would still be getting more powerful," she spits back, blasting through one more round of Youma as she uses Moonlight to slice through the lock on the stable door.

"My brother wouldn't be dead!"

She whirls back towards him. "He was my brother too!" she cries. "And so were you!" He gulps, clutching his arm closer to him. "And I thought…I thought you knew I cared enough about this world not to put it through another war."

"It wasn't a war. _Your _parents were tyrants."

"Whatever they were or weren't," she says, pushing back her anger at him. "Don't you see fighting about it has only made Metalia stronger?"

He looks down considering. "Maybe..."

"I've never fought with your family," she says. "And I don't care about fighting with them now." She storms over to the stall of one of the Juper horses, noticing a new foal in the stall. She throws Phaeton onto the beast's back and tosses a startled Augusto up behind him. "Take it to the temple…the priestesses will protect you."

"Wait, Terra!"

"It's Serenity," she snaps. "Serenity Selen."

Augusto shrinks away from the anger in her voice. "Be careful – it wants your power too."

Her mouth is set in a hard line as she tries to reign in her frustrations with the sixteen-year-old boy. _He's just as much a victim in this as me or Phaeton_, she thinks. _I've got to save him as much as anyone. _"You've ridden her before right," she says, guiding the mare and the foal out of the stall.

"All the way to the south pole," he assures her, reaching over Phaeton's body to grip the Mare's mane in his good hand.

"Then let her fly as fast as she can," she says, using a moonlight blast to blow the stable doors off their hinges. The horses charge out into the open air and take immediately to the skies. She follows them to clear the way of any youma, but none appear. The air around the palace is empty.

She runs back into the Palace and up the servants' stairs, having an idea now where Metalia is. Her feet guide her up to the third floor, across the balcony overlooking the entrance hall, and into the west wing – where Terrio and Portia keep their suite.

_It's been playing with me, _she thinks as she approaches the doors to their private reading room. _It's been playing games_.

"_Here to face me at last, Guardian_." Metalia's voice says as she steps into the room. But it does not echo from the walls.

_Oh no_, she thinks as she steps back taking in the source of the demon's voice.

"_You might have gotten through my youma," _the army of a hundred members of the royal household all say in unison, their voices all Metalia's threatening boom. "_But I'd like to see you get through all of them."_

She sees the friendly guard Parvus in the crowd, and even the youngest royal children, Gaius and Nora, facing her with large weapons in their small hands. All the people's eyes glow the deep red of the youma, their expressive eyes swallowed by the glowing magic.

And then Cornelia steps out of the crowd, her mouth set in an ugly sneer.

"_Can you defeat her too, Guardian?" _Metalia's voice asks through the possessed people. "_Can you." _

She raises Moonlight to enact a full-force Healing Purge but stops before she's begun.

Metalia is right – she is still weak from her battle on Eris and her teleport here.

She cannot possibly heal all of these people _and _hope to defeat Metalia too.

"Cornelia," she says, "I'm so sorry." and reluctantly raises her sword as the crowd rushes at her.

Her blade crosses the long spear in Cornelia's hands as she dodges Nora's clumsy swing of a club. The small girl's body topple's over under the weight of it and many more possessed people in the crowd step over her to have their turn. Cornelia wrenches her spear free, and stabs at her again, this time sheering part of one of her ponytails as she kicks several others in the mob to the ground. She gasps as the flat of a blade knocks the air from her lungs and a fist takes a swing at her head.

"Wake up!" She cries, sending another three people to the ground with the flat of her own blade. All the while Cornelia continues to battle her, her work with the spear unpracticed but brutal. She cries out as the tip of it slices into her left arm, shredding through her glove. The knife of another assailant glances off the straps of her sandals. She kicks the knife wielder away, dodges the spear, then another's axe, and grabs another attacker's shield as he charges her with the intent to slam it over her head. With the shield in one hand, and Moonlight in the other, she begins pushing more and more people to the ground, knocking them out as she fights her way through.

But she can't bring herself to knock Cornelia aside and continues dodging stab after stab from the spear.

"Cornelia!" she screams. "Cornelia wake up," but no use. The spear continues to fly at her.

"_She is not Cornelia now," _the demon shrieks – this time in her old friend's voice. "_Don't you see. She had darkness in her heart. All of them do. And now they are mine."_

"Cornelia, don't listen to her." She says, praying her friend can hear her. "You don't have to do this."

"Die!" Cornelia shrieks, red, pupil-less eyes glowing.

She can see her fallen attackers struggling back to their feet as she parries Cornelia's weapon. Soon all of them will be back on their feet.

_This is what it wants, _she realises, _to tire me even further._

Hippolyte was going to flay her for this.

She drops the shield, banishes the sword, and catches the spear between her bare hands, staring into Cornelia's possessed eyes.

"I won't fight you," she says calmly, struggling a bit to keep hold of the spear. The demon's strength makes Cornelia nearly her physical match. "Cornelia, please."

"_It is no use," _Metalia's voice says. She can here a couple of the other people getting to their feet.

"I don't believe you." Serenity says. "Cornelia, I know you're in there. Think past whatever it's saying to you. Remember," she swallows. "Remember all the times you snuck me into the kitchens for a snack, or those times you studied with me even though you said what's the point of servants learning algebra…and you were better at it than me by far.

Cornelia snarls, wrenching the spear free of her hands, but Serenity sees the red in her eyes flicker.

She holds her hands out in surrender and looks at the few other people who're back on their feet. "Look into yourselves…who you really are. You're stronger than this darkness."

Metalia begins to scream "_Useless effo-" _

But her voice is cut off as Cornelia blinks her eyes, "Mi-mi," and slowly all the other attackers cease their advance, weapons falling limply to their sides.

"Cornelia," she says, watching as the red fades from her maid's eyes.

"Milady," and Serenity barely has time to catch her maid as she faints, spear clattering from her hands, dark energy rushes out of her, and out of the others in the room. She watches it retreat behind the door to the Queen and King's bedroom and carefully lowers Cornelia to the ground.

"You can retreat," she says, hoping Metalia is listening. "But it doesn't take magic for good to win out in the end."

There is no answer from the demon, but she can here the faint rush of wind behind the closed bedroom door. She retrieves her sword and walks to the door. It falls open easily under her hand. And she can see, across the unlit room, the magenta glow filtering under the study door. It rattles from the force of winds whipping around within it.

She looks back one last time at Cornelia and the other people before closing the bedroom door. It won't do for anyone to stumble into this fight.

~_paxlunae_~

She sees the two bodies as soon as she's opened the study door. Helios within the great magenta whirlwind, his hands black and burnt and robes blowing in the high wind. And closer to the door…

_Ronan…_

The smaller body lies at her feet. The boy's face is ashen and his hair whips across his open, blank eyes in the heavy wind.

"_You took your time getting here, Guardian." _Metalia says, voice amplified by the whirlwind. Her voice booms from the middle of it, the epicentre of the dark power that has overtaken the castle. She sees a figure within the centre of the mess, eyes red and dark hair whipping around them. Their splendid cloths are awash in the same dark power.

It takes a moment for her to recognise him, even with the crown adorning his head.

"Terrio…"

"_A foolish mortal_," Metalia says. "_To think he could control my power."_

She spots Portia curled into the corner, staring between her dead son and Serenity, clutching a spell book to her chest.

Magenta energy flares out from Metalia-Terrio and she deflects it off her sword. "Earth Thorn Hurricane!" she shouts. The barbs break through the immense whirlwind but Terrio raises his hand as the approach him and they turn to dust, blowing away in the gale-force winds. She follows it up with a "Moonlight Blast!" but the attack meets the whirlwind with a sound like a thunder clap, shaking the room, and has no other effect than sending bits of plaster spewing from the cracked ceiling.

"_It is no use," _Metalia crows "_You think you're petty attacks can best me now! Foolish girl_." Metalia-Terrio raises their hands and she watches as dark energy rushes in from the walls, from out the window, and even from Portia crouched behind the desk. The queen does not seem to notice at all, continuing to stare at Ronan's body with hard eyes, looking as angry as she does grief-stricken.

A memory comes to her then, Tana when she had faced Metalia the first time, Moonlight filled with the angry, magenta magic, and the same sword shaking between Tana's clenched hands.

"_I am just as much a part of this world as you Guardian," Metalia had said then, "All of the thoughts and feelings you are too much the fool to embrace."_

"_I'll never fall to the darkness you stand for," Tana had shouted, though her voice was hoarse from the effort of battling the dark power._

"_You already have," The demon croons. "I am not dark, mortal. I am the only thing in this world that endures. I am everything your human hearts shun to the farthest corners of this world. All of your hatred, your fears, your envy. It sustains me as it has created me. You can't possibly defeat me - there's a darkness in your heart like any other – It fuels me!"_

Serenity raises her own sword again as the dark power charges towards her, filling Moonlight with the same angry glow as when it had been held in Tana's hands. She rails against the invasive feeling of it as it fills her sword and meets her own power, warring with it.

"_You mortals are all the same," _Metalia shrieks as more and more of her power rushes into the sword _"And now I shall have your power too… such amazing light. Finally it shall be a part of me too."_

She gasps as the dark magic in her sword flares up, and grits her teeth as it rushes into her, Metalia suddenly in her head.

"_We could be great together," _The demon says. "_I could help you…look at this pathetic mortal who has freed me. He murdered your family."_

"He doesn't deserve to be controlled by you though," She gasps. "And he was trying…trying to do right by his people…"

"_You think so," _Metalia laughs. "_When you have not even seen it for yourself."_

"Huh?"

"_That old adversary of mine fills you with her own pathetic memories," _Metalia crows. "_duty and nobility and nonsense. Let me show you some of mine…"_

And suddenly her vision is drowning in Magenta light, and she is seeing herself, she thinks. This teenager's blond hair is up in an elaborate bun and she wears a small crown with sapphires in the middle.

A man is kneeling on the ground before her, laying a gentle kiss on her hand.  
"I am eternally yours, Princess," he says, voice a bit gruff. He wears the livery and insignia of a junior guardsman.

And he has her nose.

"Tomas," the young woman blushes. "You're too much."

"It is true, Selena. I swear." He rises to his feet, and her arms come up around his neck. "I don't care what they say – we're plenty old enough to promise that. Why I swear now – someday you'll be Queen and I shall forever been your faithful servant."

"I'd much prefer you as an equal consort," she giggles.

"Well I shall abide by whatever you wish," he grins. "So long as we're together."

"Always," she promises with a grin.

The scene darkens rapidly from there, magenta tinting the edges of it. Suddenly Serenity is standing at the foot of a staircase in an unfamiliar castle and explosions rock the foundations of the building around her. Flames curl up the sides of the staircase and the wood floor-boards. The whole structure cracks and groans over her head.

She hears the clatter of feet from above, rushing through the burning building. Their bare feet stumble down the stairs through the chaos.

"This way!" She sees Tomas ushering Selena down the stairs under his heavy guardsman's cape, the both of them still in their pyjamas. A wall explodes as they near the bottom of the stairs and Tomas pulls Selena to him, leaning over her as stone spews into the smoky air.

"Hurry!" she gasps. "We have to get out of here."

"Try the door to the catacombs," Tomas coughs, and the two run from the stairs to a closet who's door is half burnt away. Selena bends down and wrenches up the trap door on the floor, climbing down the stairs.

Tomas is scanning through the smoky air, blocking the doorway, when the next round of explosions blows out the foundations of the ground floor. Serenity watches as a stone knocks into his helmet, with a clang and a sickening crack. Tomas collapses, dead before he hits the ground, and before Selena can catch him.

"Tomas!" she cries, hands flitting around his face. Serenity can see the blood seeping beneath his helmet, the helmet has spilt open where the stone bashed in his skull. Selena covers her mouth with her hand and ducks as debris begins to fall from the ceiling. At first she tries to drag him down into the catacombs with her but his body is clearly to heavy. She watches Selena sob as the ceiling falling all around her drives her under the ground.

She watches as the scene travels out of the burning old palace, to a younger Terrio standing on the steps of the newer wing, arms crossed as he surveys the old castle consumed by an inferno. She gasps at the golden crown on his head, adorned with sapphires, and the two bodies lying on the floor of the palace behind him – both in royal, Selen blue. The open eyes of the dead king are the same amber as her own."

"_You feel it now, the hatred for him." _Metalia laughs. "_Which you have tried so long to deny. See here:"_

And there are more images: of whole countryside's stripped of their harvest to feed wealthy cities. Of children crying in the streets as their parents roam listlessly around them, memories stolen from them. Of a young squire sacrificed for Metalia's freedom and of whole town's sacrificed to the demon when they proved to dependent on the crown's aid. She watches Metalia's dark magic drain many villages dry, until the soil is cracked and brittle and the villagers bodies are husks littering the desolate ground. _"He is a fool. And you one for never stopping him. I can help you now… say the word," _she watches Metalia-Terrio's hands rise up to wrap around the Usurper's throat. "_I can kill him_."

She feels the darkness taking root in her, the resolve of her own magic weakening.

_I cannot kill it, _she realises, and her voice sounds like Tana's in her head. _Not so long as I share its darkness. _

She drops Moonlight from her hands and falls to her knees as the overwhelming urge to skewer the King on her blade makes itself known. She feels Metalia crowing in victory, power already swirling deep within her, straining to absorb the golden crystal's power.

And her eyes fall on Ronan's body in front of her. His hand clutching a sparking piece of golden jewellery.

_That's the amulet Terrio always wore around his neck. _She thinks. She reaches out for it.

"_And now you reach out for the son of the murderer." _Metalia laughs. "_Pathetic little boy, thinking he could best me."_

It isn't right, Ronan is nothing like his father at all. She remembers times telling stories with him in the garden, helping him learn to read, even teaching him to ride when Terrio lost his patience with the task.

_He could have done it, _she realises. _If he'd only been older, if he'd only had the magic that I have…_

"You're right," she whispers. "You're right I do hate Terrio…and all those who helped him. But I am more than that." She reaches out for the amulet clutched in Ronan's hands. "Maybe I don't forgive them…but I also won't become them." She feels the dark magic's hold on her fading as she stands, stepping over Ronan and into the whirlwind, the amulet in her right hand. She reaches for the Golden Crystal's locket with the other. "I don't want revenge – I want the Earth to have what's been denied to it for so long – peace."

"_There shall never be peace," _Metalia cries. "_You're denial of your nature only proves it. By shunning the darkness," _the demon crows, _"you create me. There is not a soul alive who is immune to it."_

She feels the crescent on her forehead grow hot and the golden crystal flares up in her hand. "We'll see about that." She says, raising the amulet high. "There is light and darkness on the Earth – on any world" the magenta power around Metalia Terrio rushes towards the gem in her hand, until it is glowing as brightly as the golden crystal. "But what I know," she continues, "Is that good will endure in the end. Someday someone will grow up free of darkness in their heart. Someday, they'll destroy you." She closes her eyes, grimacing at the searing heat of the amulet. "I may not be able to destroy you. But I am surely strong enough to contain you."

"_Not even your predecessor truly could," Metalia says. "Do again what she did, restrict my access from certain lands. It did not stop me from feeding on the darkness of this world – I was still strong enough to tempt the Usurper to me."_

She looks at the amulet in her hand, crafted with intricate spell work, Tana's spell work, a tool to handle the darkness without having to touch it.

_I was afraid of it, _Tana's voice comes through to her. _All we can do is recast the spells, let it weaken over time._

_I don't accept that. _Serenity thinks, _as long as people like Terrio live, it will break free every generation…continue to wreak havoc on this world._

"We'll see whose truly stronger," she shouts. "I use this amulet to summon you – everything you are, every bit of hatred and fear that has ever strengthened you. I welcome it.

There is a flash of magenta light around her. She gasps, knees buckling, as the full force of Metalia's darkness rushes into her. She hears something heavy collapse beside her and the whirlwind converge on her, tearing into her uniform and whipping her ponytails. Her hair is dragged free of its buns in the high wind.

Her heart pounds in her ears, bile rising in her throat and she screams, hunching over on the floor of the study, as all the darkness of humanity, every dark wish or curse, every petty jealousy or prejudice, roars up in her, entwining with her golden power. Her vision turns a dark orange as he own power and Metalia's fuse together.

"_Together we would be unbeatable," _the demon's voice tempts her. "_All of Sol would be at Peace if you'd let me show you the way."_

_You're lying, _she insists, reaching out through all of Metalia's darkness to the steadfast power of the Earth within her. _No matter what hatred or anger ties me to your darkness, I'll always know that. Nothing peaceful could kill Ronan…or Helios. _

_I am connected to you, but what you didn't realise, _she thinks to the demon whose spirit mixes with her own. _Is that I can banish you further than any ordinary human could._

"Earth!" she shouts. "Use the power I share with you to trap this evil. Bury it under ice and stone far from any place another victim could wander." She sends her power, and Metalia, deep into the Earth, beneath the crust, expelling her to a frozen chasm of glacial ice and stone deep beneath the Northern pole, too cold for any human to attempt crossing. "I shall seal you in the ice away from the heated anger that fuels you, may the cold reduce you to little more than a vengeful ghost."

"_I will endure_."

_Not forever_,

"Golden Crystal POWER!" she shouts, expelling Metalia's power from her body and using the golden power fused with it to bind the demon to the desolate northern pole. She waited for her sealing spell to fuse the demon into the deepest chasm in the earth, to far from the surface to reach any human but still far above the molten heat of the mantel. She built the ice and stone up around the chasm and then let it go, burying the demon deep beneath the surface.

_Someday, _she thought, _some other sailor will be strong enough for forgiveness. And when that future Guardian comes to defeat you, She'll have the golden crystal too. _

_And maybe she won't have to face you alone like me…_

The Guardian faints as her golden power fades from the study and the whipping winds suddenly cease. She collapses beside the bodies of the Usurper, the prince, and the priest on top of the sharp shards of the amulet that shattered, overwhelmed by the powers of demon and guardian.

Glass crackles on the floor as the remaining occupant of the room rises from behind the desk, Martian Grimoire still clutched close. She holds it open in her hands, which are trembling, and steps over the body of her son to kneel beside the Guardian.

~_À Suivre_~


	21. Death of The Guardian

AN: Those who stand the tallest have the farthest to fall…

Disclaimer: Naoko was never as mean as I am. Of course I am not her and of course I don't own Sailor Moon. So technically, I suppose you can console yourselves that this is not actually canon…nah.

Last Time On _Pax_: Serenity defeated Metalia, sealing her beneath the Northern Pole. Though the fight exhausted her and left her collapsed on the floor of the Royal Study, all appeared to be well…

THERE WERE TWO CHAPTERS POSTED TODAY (November 8th) SO IF YOU HAVENT CHECKED CHAPTER 20 YET DO SO! SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.

And if you have…read on at your own emotional risk…

Death of The Guardian

The woman (whom many knew only by her title "Mage" before she assumed the throne) checks Sailor Earth's pulse before pushing lightly on her shoulder. But the Guardian remains still. Her hand hesitates over the young woman's body before reaching out for her left hand, prying a still glowing Golden Crystal from her palm.

She looks down at Romula's Grimoire, eyes checking her revisions to the foreign spell one last time, and begins to speak aloud. As ancient words leave her lips, carrying the magic of Earth's Magae with them, Sailor Earth's uniform begins to flicker. It fades into lavender ribbons around Serenity's body and returns as sparkling magic, back into the Golden Crystal in her hand. As Serenity's plain tunic and trousers reform on her body, the Golden Crystal grows brighter and warmer. She lets the initial verse of the spell trail off, and beginning the next, impresses her will upon the spell. She holds the images of her children in mind, lingering longest on her eldest daughter, now betrothed to the throne of some foreign world, and her youngest son, dead mere feet away.

_May no more of Earth's children suffer as you have,_ she thinks as she concludes her spell. The golden crystal remains warm. She smiles.

~_paxlunae_~

All the Priestesses are out in the courtyard, dancing and laughing under Sol's light, as the dark clouds that had trapped Elysium shrink and vanish in the breeze. The Mother is sandwiched between Zinea and Maeve and laughing more freely than she has since her youth when she sees the golden pillar in the center of the Cloister begin to glow.

She raises her hand and the revelry around her ceases. All watch as a column of golden light shoots up into the sky, arcing towards the Palace. She follows Zinea when the other priestess rushes back into the temple and out to the atrium. She throws open the front doors and leans out into the front courtyard, watching the golden light reach the Palace. There's a flash within one of the upper floor's windows, and the column fades as quickly as it appeared.

"What just happened?" the eldest Prince, who'd flown down to the temple with young Phaeton barely a half hour before, says as he steps out to join them. She turns to address him, to tell him she hasn't the faintest clue, and gasps. In the irises of his dark blue eyes, is a fading golden glow.

"Well?" Augusto Terran insists.

~_paxluanae_~

"_Serenity…" _

_She looks around in the bright white dreamscape for Tana, her companion in all of this, grinning as the ancient Guardian appears before her. "Tana!" she cheers, and reaches out to hug her predecessor. Were it not for her memories, she doubts she'd have known how to seal Metalia away. "I did it, we did it." She goes to hug her mentor but Tana is tense and does not return the gesture. She pulls away and frowns. "Tana?"_

_The old Guardian's green eyes stare past her into the distance. "I'm sorry…I didn't foresee…"_

"_See what? What's wrong?" she asks, as Tana steps away. She continues to back away, frowning. Panicked, Serenity dives forward and grabs her hand. "Wait."_

"_I didn't foresee this," she says, voice fading. Suddenly Tana's body is fading too. Serenity grasps for her, but encounters only air. She stares as Tana becomes fainter and fainter. She completely disappears as the white dreamscape around Serenity shatters, light falling away beneath her. She turns and turns facing emptiness in all directions. "TANA!"_

Serenity jolts up, covered in cold sweat and gasping from the nightmare. Her hand goes to her throat to grasp the locket.

But it is cold, just as she is. And light…too light. Heart still pounding from her nightmare, Serenity yanks the locket's chain over her head and pries open the lavender case with her hands. It pops open, revealing the empty pocket where the Golden Crystal usually rests.

_It's gone!_ She gasps.

"Looking for this," Portia's voice directs her attention up. Her eyes meet the Queen's through steel bars. She rises off the straw pallet and takes in the bare, stonewalls that surround her on four sides.

She's in the dungeons.

"Portia," she says to the Queen, "Why am I here?"

The Queen hums. "Well at least you know enough not to call me mother anymore – that was the most tiresome farce. You didn't look a _thing_ like my husband."

"That…that doesn't matter anymore," she says, coming up to the bars and pressing as close to them as she can. "Please…Your Majesty. You need to let me out. The golden crystal is –"

"Missing," the Queen interrupts. "Hardly, I have it right here." And from behind her she presents Serenity with a lavender staff – the same one she knows Tana crafted for the Selens thousands of years ago. The Golden crystal is nestled in its spot in the custom made white setting. She reaches out for it, unable to place the unease growing in her stomach. "A much more fitting place for such a treasure don't you think – fit for a Queen."

"Please… I'm hardly going to challenge you for the throne." Serenity complains. "It's been a stressful day your Majesty…but if you let me out and give back my crystal we can sort out the future of the Earth together."

Portia laughs. "Your crystal…you see that's where you're wrong. If I remember my history correctly, this was a gift from a loyal guardian to the crown. I have simply returned it to its appropriate ownership."

And as Portia waves the staff back and forth before her Serenity suddenly realizes what about this feels entirely out of place.

The crystal is glowing, as she's only seen it do for herself and Ronan.

It has never glowed for Portia before.

"What did you do…?" she whispers.

"Nothing that hasn't been done before. I just had much more success." Portia says, taking the crystal from its setting and holding it in her palm. It glows even brighter.

And Serenity cannot feel her magic reacting to it at all. In fact, she realizes, grasping the useless locket around her neck, she cannot feel her _magic_.

"My husband thought we could use the magical transference spell to absorb Metalia's power," Portia explains. "Hence why I conceded to let Cecelia marry that Uranian Prince in exchange for the Grimoire they'd acquired…you are familiar with the Grimoire yes – that old Martian witch went to quite a bit of trouble to keep it hidden."

_Romula, _she realizes. _Romula and the power transference spell that killed Rema…_

"No." Serenity whispers, finally realizing why she cannot feel the Golden Crystal's power, why Tana has disappeared, and why she feels so cold.

"You should thank that predecessor of yours." Portia continues, "It wouldn't have been possible if she had not separated her soul from her magic."

"Give it back!" she cries, tugging at the bars with her hands. But they do not bend, she kicks at them, a sharp pain lancing through her foot. She curses. "That is _mine_!"

"I hardly think so," Portia says. And Serenity watches in horror as the Queen murmurs "Golden Crystal Power" and the gem flares brightly, the pain in her foot instantly receding. She stares at Portia as the light in the crystal recedes to a soft glow.

"Now, you'd do well not to kick the bars again, dear. I wouldn't want to waste all this power healing your mistakes."

She gapes at the Queen, Portia can use the Golden Crystal. _Portia used Romula's spell. Does that mean… "_Give it to me." She demands hoarsely, stretching out until the bars bruise her shoulder.

"Of course."

She grasps the crystal tightly as Portia drops it into her hand. Her heart plummets as it cools in her palm, the light within it fading away.

"Golden Crystal Power!" she says, voice wavering. Still nothing happens. "Earth Crystal Power!" she tries again. But the familiar rush of magic doesn't come. She feels no ghost of the earth's oceans on her skin or the kiss of a stormy summer wind. There is only the too-cold, still air of the dungeon and the faint sound of feet clattering across the floor above her. "EARTH CRYSTAL POWER!" She shouts, voice cracking. But still nothing happens. She remains in the brown tunic and trousers she'd worn while traveling the Kuiper belt. In desperation her hand flies to her crescent mark, cool to the touch. She closes her eyes, thinking of the first spell she was able to do, before she could even transform. "Sailor Earth Power," she murmurs, praying to Ra as hard as she can that the crescent will glow. She peeks her eyes open, heart beating too fast, and slowly peels her hand away from her face.

But the corridor beyond her cell remains dim, lit only by the softly glowing lamps.

Portia tuts, hand darting forward to steal away the golden crystal once again. Even as exhausted and shocked as she is, it takes the Queen a few long minutes to pry it from her grip. When she finally does Portia pushes Serenity back. She stumbles back into the cell, tripping on the straw pallet and falling hard onto the floor.

"I wouldn't worry, dear. You said you didn't want a war." The Queen returns the crystal to its pedestal. "Well now that the Earth's power is in it's rightful place – under the ruler's control – there'll never be a war again."

She tries to speak, but only a strangled sound escapes her throat. She bites down hard on her lower lip and looks away towards the wall.

The Queen does not spare any more time to gloat. She barely hears her slippered feet as they pad away towards the stairs.

There's the taste of copper in her mouth. She swallows hard. Her mind is stuck on one thought. She draws her knees up to her chest and curls into the corner of the cell, laying her head in her hands.

_But…but I'm the Guardian…_

~_paxlunae~_

Royal Cousins:

It is with great pride that we upon the Earth celebrate the return of our world's power to its rightful custodians. Following The Guardian's failure against a domestic daemon, the Earth called upon her monarchs to use the Golden Crystal. Upon success of our campaign against the daemon, one that has cost us the lives of civilians and members of our royal family, the Earth deemed it appropriate to permanently award control of its Golden Crystal to myself and my blood-successors. Henceforth, Earth's power shall be stable and strong – a leader in our chaotic star system. We accept with the utmost humility the responsibilities of guardianship over our world and its neighbors, and look forward to meeting with you, esteemed cousins in leadership, to discuss how we shall cooperate as we move into this bright, new Golden Age.

I await your envoys no later than the next quarter-rotation of Sol.

Faithfully Yours,

Her Royal Magesty Queen Portia Terran, Chief of the Magae, Governess of all the land upon the Earth &amp; Steward of all trade upon the seas.

His Royal Highness Prince Augusto Terran, Knight of the Realm, Heir apparent to the throne of Earth

Her Royal Highness Princess Eleanora Terran, Squire to the Queen, Duchess of the Northern lands.

His Royal Highness Prince Gaius Terran, Duke of the Southern lands.

~_paxlunae_~

"They say you haven't been eating," Augusto says. "I mean…you should. Mother doesn't want you to starve.

She doesn't acknowledge him, staring at a fixed point on the wall. Despite the humidity of the noon hour she shivers.

She has not felt warm since she awoke. It is as if it is heat rather than magic that has been wrenched away from her. Has she not been eating? She hardly cares. The hunger is miniscule compared to the ache the echoes through her, emptiness where magic used to buzz.

"She's exiling you," Augusto says after quite a while, his voice painfully like his father's. "I thought…I thought I'd let you know. So you could be prepared."

She has not dreamed of Tana once since waking up in this cell…

"And they buried Father today…and Ronan…and Helios. I know you were close to the priest I uh," there's a pause. She sees something fall softly towards the stone floor. "I brought this…from the ceremony."

She actually does look when she hears him shuffling impatiently beyond the cell. It's a red rose on the floor, brightly coloured and wilted, dead.

She sighs. "Go away, Your Highness."

She's the faintest bit pleased when he coughs and shuffles his feet, seemingly uncomfortable with her addressing him by his title. "You should…you should eat when they bring your dinner tonight. I think, I think the trip is going to be long. They're going to send you away tomorrow."

She shrugs.

"Please… You saved my life, I want to help you."

It is only then that she looks into his eyes, cringing slightly at the vibrant blue color, the same as Portia's eyes, Terrio's…Ronan's.

_Terrio is dead…_

_Metalia may as well be…_

_Shouldn't I be too?_

"Can't I do _anything_?" he pleads with her.

"Get me back my crystal," she says, her voice dry and unrecognizable.

"I…I can't"

"Please, Augusto." She begs, swaying as she stands up so that they are the same height. "The Golden Crystal belongs to the Guardian."

"Well…they say we're the guardians now," he says. "And…and anyways. You wanted Peace. Well now we'll all get it."

She stares at him blankly. How can he possibly think…? "I defeated Metalia for you."

"I know…" he sighs. "But…but if you hadn't had the Golden Crystal…if it had just been the crown's to use the whole time…well then Father wouldn't have turned to Metalia at all…and we would have been able to defeat it long ago.

She stares blankly at him.

"Don't you see," he persists. "You'll just be a normal person now, and you won't be attracting evil to us by being so powerful."

"_I didn't bring Metalia_." She protests in a strained voice. "Augusto…"

"You did though, didn't you?" he continues. "You're the reason Father kept going to her about the fog and supporting his power. You're the reason he let her become more and more powerful. I heard you know – it wanted the Golden Crystal's power more than anything. Perhaps if it had always been under our protection Metalia never would have tried." He swallows. "And my brother would be a live…and Father…and Cecelia would still be here."

"All of that is your father's fault!" she cries at him.

"Because he was terrified of you!" Augusto fires back. "I'm not blaming you – just your powers. But they're gone now, and you'll be gone. And you have to eat. Please. I told Mother it'd be better to let you live."

She looks away from the Prince. "Your parents murdered mine for the throne."

"Well," he shuffles uncomfortably. "I – I'm sorry. They were bad rulers though. The drought they let rage all those years ago. And…everything else I suppose. The people, they weren't happy. Now they are. I mean, I don't think it's right but…but it's over. And Mother says Metalia had a hand in all the decisions they made back then. But now she's gone. And the throne is strong again…and I'm sorry that you're on the losing end…but," he sighs. "I'm going to rule better than them."

"I could rule better."

"Yes, well…the Earth chose me." Augusto protests. "After all, Mother says it transferred the Golden Crystal to her when she defeated Metalia for you."

Her fists clench at her sides as she looks away. So that's the lie Portia is spreading. "And you believe her?" she insists.

"Course I do," Augusto huffs as though it's unthinkable that she imply his mother has lied. "See here, whatever you think happened, Metalia must have addled your head. Mother says you tried to attack her once the daemon was gone. That's why she put you here initially. She thought you'd been working with the daemon. _I _convinced her otherwise."

_That's a lie, _she thinks. _All of that is lies._

But he won't believe her anyways.

"They're bringing you food in a couple hours." He says. "It'll be your favorite cheese, I think. Promise you'll eat it."

She doesn't say anything, but she does jerk her head in a stiff nod so that he'll leave. Once he's gone she slams her fist hard into the wall, the force of it splitting open the skin across her knuckles and rattling through her arm. She presses her head to the cold stone and lets her knees sink again to the floor.

~_paxlunae_~

It is much later –they'd doused the dungeon lamps – when she hears someone shuffling from foot to foot outside her cell again.

"I ate the food, Augusto," she snaps. She didn't, but what does it matter anyways?

There's no response at first, and she's so tempted to ignore his presence entirely and pretend to sleep, but then she hears a sniff. She frowns.

Augusto does not _cry_.

"Your voice sounds horrid."

This voice makes her turn towards the cell door and then shuffle towards it, and towards the small blue-haired boy leaning through the bars. _Phaeton_.

"Augusto said you were alright but you're not are you?"

"I'm fine Phae…the fight with Metalia took a lot out of me," she says, wrapping her hands around the bars.

"You hurt your hand – here." And he puts his hand over hers before she can protest, a soft blue glow lighting up the air around him. When he lifts his hand away her knuckles are healed over with fresh skin. She rubs along the knuckles with her other hand. She'll never heal a wound even as simple as that one again. "You shouldn't use magic so soon after that battle." She cautions him. "You nearly died protecting Augusto and yourself."  
"I'm fine," he insists. "It's been five days now anyways."

_Five days… five days without my powers... _She still feels their absence acutely, constantly trying to call them forth, but having nowhere to look.

"They say Metalia possessed you…and that the Queen stepped in and saved you with the crystal," the boy says. "I don't believe them. I tried to tell Augusto too…but he called me a little kid." He sniffs again. "I miss Ronan."

She reaches out through the bars and grasps his shoulder. "It doesn't matter whether Augusto believes you or not," she insists. "You are right…and… and they're going to tell you a lot of false things Phae. But believe in yourself alright." She tries to smile. She doesn't quite manage it but she get's a wobbly smile from Phaeton in return for the effort. "And thank you…for believing me."

"Papa always said to believe you." Phaeton says. "He…he remembered in the end. Everything. He says you were the reason. You healed him once, did you realize."

_I never did. _She shakes her head. _At least he died remembering his life, knowing what he was dying for… _"I don't think you should be here Phaeton."

"Of course I should!" He bursts out. "They're…they're sending you away tomorrow and nobody even told me. And they shouldn't be. I don't want them to." He curls closer to the bars. "You saved my life… I want to go with you."

His faith in her very nearly makes her feel warm again but…

_But his father's buried here… and his best friend…_

"I need you to be very brave Phaeton." She tells him, unsure how it has come to her telling an orphaned child that they must stay amongst people she herself doesn't trust. "I need you to stay."

"_No!" _he gasps. "Why?"

"Because…" she sighs. "Because you know your father's stories… you know his magic." She squeezes his small shoulders. "You know the _truth_. And Augusto trusts you." She waits until he's stopped sniffling, until he wipes away his tears with the cuff of his sleeve. "This world needs you Phaeton. Augusto knows nothing of it's needs or it's wants…or it's magic. He'd make a mess of it."

"He could learn."

"He won't though." She sighs. "I need to know there's someone here who can keep watch if Metalia rises again… and someone to make sure Augusto rules well."

"That's… that's a lot." He stammers.

"I know…but you'll be grown before you have to do all that." She says. "But since Augusto's going to need you…you need to do something for me now. You need to stay. And keep reading all those books you and Ronan read. Keep practicing magic like your father was teaching you. Keep _believing _in how things are meant to be." She smiles. "Be this world's guardian in a way…since I can't"

She watches his watery eyes grow round as saucers before he straightens up, squares his small shoulders, and bows deeply to her, his mop of blue hair falling over his eyes. "I swear I'll try," he says in a rush. I'll defend it as well as you ever did."

_Defend it better than me_, she thinks.

"Oh," he says. "And I brought you this." And he shoves a handkerchief-wrapped package into her hands and presses a flask of water towards her as well.

She smiles. "Thank you…now you need to go. I don't want you to get in trouble with the Queen."

He mutters something about never getting caught before but heeds her advice, wishing her a goodnight as he rushes from the dungeon.

She unfolds the package and scrambles to catch the small rolls that tumble out of it. A few of them roll across the damp stone and under the bars of the cell. She manages to keep three and returns two to the hankerchief, staring for a long while at the food between her hands.

She sighs and begins to pick at it. Perhaps food will make her feel less hollow inside.

It was a silly hope, she realizes once she's half way through the roll and still feels just as empty. But at least she isn't hungry anymore.

~_paxlunae~_

They come to her cell just a few hours later. She's barely gotten to sleep when booted feet march to the door of her cell and a key clicks into the lock. Her door is yanked open and the two guards storm in, lifting her up under the shoulders. One steps on the rolls still wrapped in Phaeton's hankerchief.

"I can walk_!" _she insists, pulling away from them. But for whatever reason her strength fails her and they nearly pull her arms from their sockets keeping her between them. They're half-way up the dungeon stairs before she decides to cooperate. She hangs her head and lets her loose, blond hair hang in a curtain beflore her, masking the blush that shames her face.

She can feel the servants watching as she is frogmarched through the ground floor of the palace and out into the courtyard. Even the low light of dawn is blinding after so many days underground. She cringes away from it, squinted eyes peeking through her hair and spying the great carriage hooked up to the two Juper horses.

_They must want to send me to my place of exile quickly_, she summises but furrows her brow. _But wait…Augusto said it was a long trip…_

"Well don't just stand there," Portia snaps from nearby. "This is hardly something we want to attract attention for." And suddenly the Queen is before her. And she forces herself to meet Portia's contemptuous gaze. "This is where we part ways, Serenity." The Queen says. "But just to be sure you don't fall back on any…uncivil ideas.

She can barely breathe as the Queen's lavender staff is leveled at her forehead, her own Crystal directed towards her. The queen says something in the language of the Magae and at once there is a searing pain in her head. She grits her teeth to hold back a scream and collapses in the guards grip.

"It'll fade once you've. I do apologize for the discomfort." Portia says dismissively. "It's just to ensure you are never able to return to challenge my children for the throne. A mother has to look out for her own, you know."

She glares at the Queen, "You have not won."

"I think you'll find that is a lie my dear girl." She says. Then turns to her guards. "Well hurry up – get her into the carriage." And she's being dragged again, across the courtyard and up the fold-away stairs into one of the carriage-bed. There are no seats. One guard sets her down across from a few stuffed burlap sacks and ties a rope around her hands. She closes her eyes. The pain in her head is unbearable

_The crystal did magic on me… _she struggles to process the thought and buries her head between her hands, waiting impatiently for the carriage to move.

She grits her teeth as a cacophony of sound outside intensifies her headache – which now seems to be spreading through the rest of her as well.

"Send all of us or none," she hears a familiar voice say. "We'll wait…but surely you know we shant tolerate you on the throne if we're forced to stay."

She covers her ears with her hands as the noice level outside rises to shouting, many voices rising about eachother. Then too-long afterwards the carriage shakes as other people clambor into it.

"By Ra what has she done to you?" She lifts her head as a gentle hand comes to rest on her arm, another brushing her hair away from her face. "Milady…"

Cornelia fusses over her, undoing the rope that binds her hands even as she sees The Mother on her otherside uncorking a flask of water. She groans as the carriage jerks suddenly forwards – the horses picking up speed as they drag the vehicle up into the air. "Why are you here?" she asks, noting several other priestesses in the carriage…and priests…and even some civilians she faintly recognizes…those she healed from the fog."

"Word spread you were being exiled." The Mother says, pressing the open flask into her hand and coaxing her to drink it. Cool water rushes down her parched throat. She coughs. "Easy…the Order of Ra decided we could not continue on with Portia as the Queen…and that the best way to prove we'd no confidence in her was to leave." The Mother smiles at her. "I doubt many fools will take heed of the act…but it is a powerful statement."

"Several dozen civilians also joined us on our march to the Palace," Zinea says from farther down the carriage. "They'll be coming up on the next carriage."

She gapes at them, unable to comprehend. "I…I don't know what to say."

"It seemed a much better thing to do than live under _her _rule anyways." Cornelia huffs. "She makes that crystal of yours look more sinister than a youma. Milady we shall have to get it back at some point."

The pain in her head is receding as they climb up higher into the sky. _How high are they going to go_. "I don't think you can." She says, shame burning her face. "Zinea… Portia has Romula's Grimoire."

"How?" Zinea demands. "Why that would have been destroyed centuries ago…or at least the Martians said…"

Serenity shrugs. It seems the Martians lied. Her heart twists painfully as the realization dawns on the faces of the Priestesses and all the others who know the history.

"Oh how could she…" The Mother fumes "That wicked… Serenity, are you alright?"

She looks away. She cannot answer their questions.

It is a long while later – of her staring at the floor and of her three closest companions sitting in vigil at her side, before anyone speaks.

"Hey look!" one of the civilians across the carriage says as he pulls something from one of the burlap bags. "Fancy them sending this along."

She gasps as he unsheathes Moonlight from her scabbard, reaching out for her favored weapon. The grip is as familiar in her hand as it has ever been.

But she feels none of the magic imbued in it. She lifts the jeweled pommel to her forehead and begs for some echo of Tana to reach her, some of the familiar advice she's come to depend on. But the sword is only cool metal – as hollow as she is.

"Zinea," she says. "If my powers are gone…shouldn't there be a new Guardian of Mars by now."

"I…I don't know, Milady." Zinea says. "Presumably you _are _still the Guardian."

"But…" she swallows the lump in her throat, though it doesn't go away. Darkness rushes past outside. _I thought it was morning?_ "But if the Golden Crystal's bound to the Terran bloodline…it'll always be active…even if I die right?"  
She watchs Zinea's eyes flick to The Mother's, then down to the floor, her hands wringing in her lap. "In theory, yes…that's how the Golden Crystal works. As long as it's rightful owner is alive it remains as active as ever."

"It's not mine anymore…so." _So the power of the Guardian is stuck on Earth_. She realizes with horror. _There'll be no Guardian of Mars now, nor when I pass…no other Guardian ever… "_I'm… I'm the last Guardian." She realizes. "I am aren't I. I've killed it."

"We don't know that," The Mother says. "Now stop filling your head with worries."

But she can see the same anxiety in the Mother's eyes…and Cornelia's and Zinea's…

Suddenly the carriage dips, flying downwards at last. A couple people scramble to look outside. She grits her teeth as the horses land roughly, slowing until the carriage rolls to a halt. She stumbles to her feet, clutching Moonlight close, and steps down from the craft, anxious to see where they've been flying to for so long.

They're on a beach, she thinks at first, strange, pearly water laps at her bare feet. She hears the two guards who'd flown them here unload the people and bags from the carriage before urging the horses back into the skies. She watches the powerful beasts soar up into the lavender sky, past strange pink-hued clouds, out into the strange looking sunlight.

And they're flying towards something. Her eyes widen as she takes in the beautiful blue sphere peeking up over the horizon. She can make out swirls of white like clouds and snow to one side of it, and the green of trees… She's only seen it once before, on the trip home from Jupiter: The Earth.

_You'll never return_, Portia's words come back to her, the pain had lingered in her head until they'd left Earth's atmosphere.

_I can never go home," She realizes. I can never go home…and I've failed them all. All the old Guardians…all those who might have been…I have ruined them._

She doesn't feel the impact of her knees in the freezing lunar water, nor does she see Zinea turn into The Mother's shoulder, or the civilians looking away, or Cornelia kneeling beside her with her eyes hidden behind her hand. For she has hunched over on the beach, bent over her sword, as sobs tear through her.

None of them can look, for none of them can bear to watch the last Guardian cry.

~_À Suivre_~


	22. The First Year

AN: Did the last few chapters feel like I was tearing out your heart and crushing it? Those were the hardest chapters to write…hopefully this makes up for it.

Just 3 chapters and an epilogue left after this...

Disclaimer: Oh for goodness sakes there's 21 of these in previous chapters let's get on with this.

Last Time On Pax: Serenity was stripped of her identity as the Guardian of Earth, and was exiled permanently to the moon…

The First Year

"_... __Earth deemed it appropriate to permanently award control of its Golden Crystal to myself and my blood-successors…"_

She crushes the formal letter in her fist, standing abruptly from the dining table.

"Hippolyte?" Her siblings have barely started their own meals.

"Something's come up," she says. "Hermes…are you up for a mirror call to Uranus?"

"I…I can be, yes. What in Sol's happened?"

"And Frigga…reach out to that Mercurian Prince of yours…and then both of you, contact Pluto, Saturn, Venus."

Both of them nod, still staring at her with furrowed brows awaiting an explanation.

"Tell them they will be receiving a communication from Earth…if they haven't already. Tell them not to respond. And contact Mother and Father on Neptune as well…catch them and the Chieftain up to speed."

"Hipp?" her younger sister insists "What's this about."

"Portia's done something to the Guardian," she says, whirling from the room. "I need to reach Florencia before she starts a war."

~_paxlunae_~

"It's quite cold out here, you know." The Mother's voice interrupts the silence of her meditation place.

Not that she's been meditating. Indeed, she has not been able to since landing here aweek ago. The soil and stone do not feel right whenever she settles on them, and the smell of the air does not sit right in her lungs. The Mother settles at her side, sighs, and waits.

She doesn't look at her, her gaze is focused away from the morning sun, at the Earth which is setting over the great sea. She watches as a great storm swirls across one of its oceans, unable to look away.

"It is a beautiful view… I never in my life thought I'd leave it."

The knot that sits permanently in her chest constricts. "I'm sorry."

"Stop it," The Mother scoffs. "This might not be your choice – but it was mine, as it was all of ours. Earth was home to all of us. But do you know what?"

"What,"

"We would have lost it to the Youma long ago if you had not stepped up to fight for it. And if you hadn't stopped whatever happened in the farthest parts of the system – eventually we would have lost Earth to that too."

"Portia has the power to protect it," she reminds the mother. "I'm useless now."  
"You're certainly _not_," The Mother says, putting a firm hand on her shoulder and turning her away from her watch over the Earth. "Listen to me – you have been the Guardian all your life, I'm sure there was a time you'd have rather stayed out of the fighting."

She shrugs. "Maybe in the beginning, but when people actually needed me, there was nothing else to do."

"And the times you've had to fight other people?"

Again she shrugged. "I hated it, but I was the only one with the power to help, and I never tried to kill them, just keep them from harming others."

"And yet the Juper armies could eventually have taken care of the horde themselves. You could have left Kuiper to its own devices. And on Earth you surely could have reinforced the protections of what cities remained safe, rather than face Metalia."

"I could _never_," she snaps. "People needed me, yes maybe I could avoided the hardest fighting, but it wouldn't have been right. I _needed _to help."

The Mother is suddenly smiling as though Serenity has not just yelled at her. "_That_ is why all of us are here and not under the Golden Crystal's protection," she says. "Do you think Portia will ever fight because ordinary people need her to? Do you think she'd ever sacrifice her own well being for theirs."

She stares at The Mother. No, Portia decidedly would not.

"You're power was extraordinary," The Mother continues. "But the Order and Cornelia and the others are here because of _you_. You show time and again what it is to put others before yourself. That makes you a leader, and all of us would rather leave the comfort of our homes for a leader we trust than remain under the protection of a leader who's only ever looked after their own."

She gapes at The Mother as she stands, unclipping her formal Gold habit and wrapping it around Serenity's shoulders. "They're still looking to you to lead." She says as she leaves. "Oh," she calls. "And you know better – you're meant to be meditating _towards _Sol. Enough of this brooding."

She blinks after a very long time staring after The Mother, stiff hands tightening around the golden habit which is wool and perfectly warm.

They've been here for three days, living off a few fish from the great sea and some of the grain that was in the burlap sacks. But what was packed was really only enough for one person for a few months – and there's 107 of them here with her.

_Okay, _she says, turning away from the Earth and towards the bright star across the sky. She closes her eyes and feels its warmth spread across her face, and its light filtering through her eyelids. She breathes. The air is still strange. The ground beneath her still foreign, but Sol's warmth is the same. She breathes again: focusing her mind on everything she's learned about rations from following Hippolyte's army, and of planting from years under Helios tutelage in the gardens. _What do we need? _The knot in her chest looses the slightest bit.

~_paxlunae_~

"What do you _mean _call the army back?" Florencia snaps at her. And Hippolyte reels back as the fire spits at her as though an extension of the Saluta's rage. "Clearly, the Guardian is being held hostage – I never trusted that Terran idiot. It's well and good to change up the leadership every now and then, but even the most brutal of my clans has more honour than to murder a family in cold blood – and decent rulers at that."

"We need to put the Selens behind us, Flore," Hippolyte stresses. "An Army will only provoke Earth. And it'll give no reason to the other worlds to follow us."

"Of course it will. Force convinces _everyone_." The Saluta huffs.

"And if she truly controls the Golden Crystal, even your Veneficii will be crushed." Hippolyte fires back. "Call them back. _Wait_ until we have more information. And I think even you'll agree: Diplomacy has more clout with some of our cousins than war."

Florencia mutters something about Saturnis under her breath. "_Fine_. I'll call them back. And you have Mars full support. I'll let you know as soon as my Veneficii find her."

"Thank you," she nods to the flickering fire-image. "Then excuse me, I have our response to pen."

~_paxlunae_~

_Esteemed Cousins _

_We write to inform you of our official rejection of Earth's latest communiqué. We suspect strongly that it was not a peaceful transition of power that left the current dynasty in control of the Guardianship. We are requesting more information pertaining to this power transfer, and are seeking testimony from Guardian Serenity Selen. _

_We beseech you to hold any response to their request for trade negotiations until the nature of this power transference has been ascertained. And, should evidence be found that they have acted out of greed to acquire power for themselves, we implore you for the sake of righteousness, and for your own integrity, to renew sanctions upon the Earth and cease communications. Any who would stand by an Earth ruled by such a corrupt monarchy should be prepared to face sanctioning alongside them._

_We await your reply. We recognize these events present you all with difficult dilemmas of economy and security and shall endeavour to renegotiate our own agreements in order to ensure you may cut out the Earth and her control of the Guardian's powers with minimal negative results_

_We the signatories of this missive swear that our intentions are just, and our interest that of all Sol's._

_Empress Hippolyte of Jupiter – Governess of the Juper homeworld and her moons._

_Saluta Florencia of the Bellii Clan – High Lady of the clans of Mars and related Solar outposts._

_Chieftain Drax Atlantiese – Advisor of Neptune and the Kuiper's inner-lands. _

~_paxlunae_~

They've been walking along the coast for days, seeking the location of the old Selen lunar outpost, when Cornelia spots the two winged horses (one riderless) that dip beneath the clouds and soar across the sea towards them.

"Couldn't leave well enough alone," The Mother mutters, unclipping a knife from her belt. "What in Ra's name do you think our Neo-Usurper wants?"

Serenity has her own hand on Moonlight's hilt when she spots something strange about the approaching rider. She raises her hand signalling everyone to lower their arms, squinting hard at the horse.

Suddenly she grins, a joyous cry escaping her as she runs along the beach towards the rider, wearing a familiar livery of green with pink trim. _Hippolyte!_

But as the rider removes their helmet the grin drops from her face. This rider's black hair might also be done up in a braid, and so-too are their eyes the same dark green as Hippolyte's, but that is where the resemblance ends. She still smiles as the Juper reigns in his horse and, pats it down. They whistle at the riderless horse which circles before landing beside them.

"Hello," she says, trying to quell her disappointment. "Has Hippolyte sent you?"

"Indeed," the Juper says, dipping into a deep bow from their saddle. "Her Majesty has sent me as her official courier to deliver a letter – regretfully I must depart without a reply for I have committed to the flight to Venus as well – but you may keep this horse," they nods towards the rider-less beast (who, never the less, wears a sturdy saddle). "And Guardian," They add, reaching into their coat and pulling out a thick parchment roll.

"Yes?" she asks, grabbing the letter.

"The Queen has been very anxious about the state of you – I am so pleased to see you in good health. Let her know if you require anything she insists she will gladly send it."

And then they are taking to the skies once more, and the horse they leave behind walks right up to Serenity and bumps her in the chest.

She smiles at the creature and runs a hand through it's bright blue mane before guiding up to the group. "Was anyone tired?" she asks motioning to the saddle. And one elderly man steps forward. She helps him up into the saddle and notes two bulging saddle bags – she grins when she opens the smaller one – reems of yellowing parchment are stuffed inside and she can see graphite pens rolling around inside as well.

"Well," Cornelia elbows her. "Are you going to read it or what?"

She lets the company of travellers continue moving down the shoreline. She follows at a slower pace, unfurling the letter to read as she walks.

_Dear Serenity,_

_I dearly hope this courier finds you well. It took us far too long to determine where you and your fellows had been sent into exile – I should have guessed Earth's moon. It was the favoured place of your own family for exiles many years ago. _

_I was unsure what the moon had in the way of developed land and stores of food. But based on my understanding that it has gone unused for 17 years, I've sent your letter along with some basic supplies: Seeds, dried stores and the like. I hope at least some will flourish on the moon's surface._

_Please let me know what's happened. All I have is the official version of things. Which reads like fanciful malarkey, and only a fool or a desperate man dares believe it._

_I've tried to rally the other worlds to your side. Neptune and Mars are in full agreement with me. We're hopeful of winning over the minds of Pluto and Saturn. Unfortunately I doubt Uranus will give up Earth – it has such lucrative resources in the way of food and metals which they certainly need. I am also unsure of Venus – they're a fickle bunch, but I know for certain Mercury relies on my trade too heavily to sever those ties._

_I digress, none of that is important. Please tell me how you are. Are you alright? I am unable to visit right now and that frustrates me beyond measure! I've half a mind to step down as Queen for the number of times I cannot act as I see right. Ideally, what I'd like to do is overthrow your damn nuisance of a royal family myself. Regretfully or perhaps prudently it goes against several ancient treaties (and sense if its true Portia controls your powers). Still, I wish every night I had the power to challenge her myself._

_Please respond soon. One of these horses is yours to keep. It wouldn't do for the Guardian to be confined to a moon without any transport._

~_paxlunae_~

When the unidentified rider soars past Europa it is reported via standard issue communication cork to those watching on their home's surface. The Horse soared right down into Themiscyra and straight into the rotunda a top the Palace. The Queen runs through the door from the Palace as its rider dismounts shakily, having passed the difficult negotiation with Pluto off to Hermes in her haste to see this arrival

But she sighs in disappointment as she notes the Rider's darker skin and white, priestess' habit. Of course Serenity would not come herself if reports were true she had a community of nearly a hundred fellow exiles to care for.

"Your majesty" the young woman said in a rush, stumbling as she bowed. They'd have to give her something to help her adjust to the gravity. "Pleasure to meet you. I am Farah…" She gasps catching her breath. "The Guardian has a reply for you."

She then has to catch the shaky Earthling as she nearly falls off her feet, taking the letter and shouting for someone who'll have time to take her to an infirmary and treat her for gravity sickness."

She then locks herself within the War Room several floors below and leans over long-awaited letter.

_Dear Hippolyte,_

_Fear not: I am well, though I doubt you'll believe me after what I must divulge._

_Portia collaborated with the Uranians it seems, to get Romula's Grimoire of spells. And she was able to use the spell designed to steal magic successfully on me – yes, the same one that killed Guardian Rema. So I am well enough. Though I am not The Guardian anymore. Truly, I've no idea who I am…_

_I am so grateful for your supplies though. The soil here is much different than Earth's but I'm sure at least some will sprout. We planted all of them this morning. I apologize that I did not write sooner – we were traveling until yesterday and it was always too dark once we stopped to rest to write. It was imperative that we get to the old Selen complex, you see. We were send up with enough food for a few months. Of course, that was only meant for me and there ended up being 106 people who went into voluntary exile alongside me. I feel so grateful to have so many loyal friends among Earth's people but my heart aches for the lives they've given up just to keep me company._

_I would take the horse to you myself but it seems I have become the de-facto leader of our group. I cannot fathom why when We've a Mother and Father priestess here who've done plenty more leading than me. But even they seem to look to me for direction. I suppose that is good though. At least I can serve some kind of purpose to others. It is almost funny: I never expected to be a Queen of any kind, but now find myself making decisions over what to build and how to amass enough food for everyone…I welcome the work but I've no idea why any trust me to do it._

_It saddens me to hear that Sol's worlds may be divided because my powers are now another's. I pray to Ra everyday that a new Guardian is born on Mars soon, but I fear the power of the Guardian is confined to Earth. Truly, I fear there may never be another Guardian as long as Portia's descendants have it under their control. _

_Please let me know how the other worlds react – and do not try to soften the situation for me. And if there is anything – anything at all I can do. Name it. I still have my voice and my sword and they are useless in comparison to what I was…but they are something._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Serenity_

~_paxlunae_~

"Flore!" Hippolyte snaps "What in Ra's name is she suggesting!"

"Do not accuse me!" Florencia of mars huffs across the flames "That Romula was of the Pomeii clan - I've nothing to do with the Grimoire being preserved, though they'll certainly be put under scrutiny for it!" She pinches her forehead. "I'm more concerned with why Uranus got hold of it at all"

"Why to do the same thing of course!" Hippolyte rages "Or at least ensure they never had to deal with another Ceilhee."

"That hardly matters" Drax interjects, and she directs her attention towards the mirror that projects his image. "As it is, the nature of this it is abhorrent...but it now puts us in a difficult position. If Serenity truly isn't The Guardian any longer –"

"Which we cannot confirm nor should we assume," Hippolyte stresses.

"Come off it Hippolyte," Florencia sighs. "She cant even do basic Earthling magic; all bets are off."

"And that is what I'm saying. We on Neptune are keenly aware of that," Drax continued. "We were hit hard by the Doxae vines. Our people… they need the extra food that was being grown on our colonies and moons. Now we don't have it, and what we trade with you is simply not enough. I've heard plenty of Uranian cropping up sympathies the past few months. It is concerning. If _I_ pull away from Earth my people wont see that it is just: all they will see is that I am cutting them off from protection. Not to mention Uranus is my closest trade partner - are you suggesting I cut ties with them if they persist in supporting Earth?"

"I am indeed suggesting it," Hippolyte insists. "Drax - I'll double the food i send to you – call it aid. And Flore, I'm sure, can help with your defenses"

Flore nodded "I know too well the power of public opinion - it turns into rebellion faster than an arrow can fly"

"It wont come to that," Drax dismisses. "I've slain three Hydras in my time – the people know not to challenge me. Still their favor is not something to take lightly."

"So stay with our agreement," Hippolyte said "if we remain strong we can put pressure on our fellows to stand with us too."

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Serenity,_

_What you speak is nonsense – you were born The Guardian and you'll die The Guardian too. No getting out of it. And that is not all of who you are. You are my friend – you're remarkably good with a sword, and you've a pure heart. The last is more rare than can be comprehended. Your powers have no bearing on who you are, nor how strong you are._

_As to how you lost your powers, I am at a loss for words. I cannot even comprehend how anyone could do that – not after Rema. And even then – the consequences of such an action are unfathomable! There is surely a way to get your magic back – have faith. Guardians are extraordinary humans as well as magical beings. _

_It seems Portia is not content to sit idle either – there are threats and promises being bandied about across the worlds. Why I received a missive yesterday that she would refuse all future requests for aid against planetary threats unless I made peace with her rule._

_I shan't reply as it might insight war – which is exactly what I've been working with Mars day and night to prevent. The Soluta is livid – in fact all her clans are livid and they scarcely agree on anything. I am hoping that now that the nature of Portia's depravity is public knowledge it shall rally many more planets to our side. That is only hope though, it has been brough to my attention as well the position this puts us all in – if Portia is effectively controlling your powers and thus the wellbeing of us all. Mars and Neptune are still prepared to deny all ties with Earth. As is Pluto. Mercury I am unsure of, they are so pragmatic. I have my sister in correspondence with them daily. She's more than happy to do it (she's enamoured with one of their princes). Saturn remains steadfast as far as I can tell, and I'll be moving through them to see if Uranus can't be persuaded that Earth is too unstable to deal with…_

_What is it like on the moon? My own world has dozens and they are all so diverse. I dearly hope your Earth is nothing like our Io._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Hippolyte_

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Cecelia,_

_Mother's asked me to pen this letter to you in her steed, something about it being customary. I hope you are well. I have much to tell you – some of it less pleasant than the rest. _

_Metalia has finally been vanquished – and by our own mother. She used the spell-book your betrothed uncovered to spectacular effect – and now the Golden Crystal is hers as well! But Metalia's defeat came at an impossibly high cost…I cant express how sad it makes us that you must hear this in a letter._

_Father and Ronan are dead, killed by the demon during the battle. Father was dispatched by it shortly after his attempt to take its power failed. It overwhelmed him. Ronan waded in bravely to challenge it himself, but could not withstand its power. I am proud to have called him brother.__ I've no idea how mother found the strength to defeat it after witnessing that. But I suppose that's why Earth awarded her the Golden Crystal._ _You were lucky to have been on Uranus for it, dear sister. It was a terrifying ordeal._

_We have sent additional correspondence to Uranus King, beseeching him to support Mother's adoption by the Golden Crystal, as we fear there are some in Sol who would not take kindly to us, presuming of course that they believe Serenity's tale over ours. I tried to reason with her, but I believe rather than addled, she is simply unwilling to accept that she has no place in the order of things. Shame, as she could have been such an asset to the throne, like Tana was all those years ago._

_Stay strong, Cecelia. And be thankful your new world is far from the turmoil that may yet face our own. I hope your betrothed shall stay at your side as you mourn the deaths of our brother and father. __Mother says you should have the prince write us your response._

_Your loving brother,_

_Augusto_

~_paxlunae_~

_Esteemed Cousins,_

_Conscious of the tumultuous state of our system and the uncertainty surrounding the Guardianship, Mercury reluctantly declines to allie with the Jupiter, Mars and Neptune. We accept that this means a forfeiture of our trade benefits but see Earth and Uranus as equally capable suppliers. We hope there shall be no hard feelings on any side. We are a small world – subject to Sol's tempers more than any other, and vulnerable to outside attack in a way perhaps only Pluto can sympathize with. We feel it is in our best interests to remain aligned with the Guardian's powers. _

_We ask only your understanding._

_Sincerest Regards,_

_Primaire Aseop, Greatest Mind of Mercury and leader over all her peoples, properties, and technologies._

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Hippolyte,_

_It pains me to here that Sol is in such a disarray and all because I did not see the depths of the Terrans treachery sooner. Again, if there is anything I can do to renew balance between the worlds you have only to ask._

_It is painful to watch the Earth from the moon, and it is often visible. There is no sign of any remaining from the legions of old exiles who were sent here, but the compound the Selen army used to watch them is still here and suitable for us to stay in. Many of our seeds are now sprouting and thank goodness – for we have been surviving on grains and what fish we manage to catch. It is still a food I need to get used to, as the royals did not eat it often. The water here is a different colour too – much more pearl grey in colour where Earth's seas are a rich blue. It is still adequate to quench one's thirst though. And the night sky is rich with stars from the moon. I do not understand how they are so much clearer, but nor do I question it. it is one of few things I love about this place. That and the view of Earth – while painful – is beautiful._

_I suppose I shall get used to the moon. Truly it is fine, though I miss Earth's roses. The Moon does not have any of it's own, and there are few animals here save an abundance of rabbits._

_The civilians and Ra's priests and priestesses are all well. They seem to rejoice being here and not on Earth where they would still face Portia's laws and the guards who might enforce them. I never knew the Terran taxes were so high! Their joy makes each day a little more bearable._

_I miss you frequently. I sometimes still dream of your capture in Kuiper and replay the ensuing battle in my dreams. Only in these I fail to save you. I am well aware these nightmares are untrue and they are infrequent things. But they affect me all the same._

_We can see the envoys to Earth from here. I take it Mercury has not taken your side. We have seen the Venesiens horses as well, and the Uranians are here and gone weekly with people and trade…_

_You won't like this but perhaps you could dismiss the sanctions and let Portia be… what has happened to me is awful, yes. But I would feel even worse if it led to a fracturing of Sol's relations._

_Faithfully yours,_

_Serenity_

~_paxlunae_~

_Esteemed cousins:_

_We request additional security to that which has been sent for we detect a comet approaching the edges of Sol. It's path appears irregular based on past data. We also detect some indications of sentient life from the object. Send envoys post-haste so that we can amass a diplomatic welcome as well as a sizable defense._

_Regards,_

_High Lady Ilsi of Pluto, Keeper of the Sands of Time and Minder of outer Kuiper and the Oort region._

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Serenity_

_I am happy to hear that you are in good spirits. I am sure you shall grow comfortable on the Moon even if it is not Earth. Truly, there's no reason you and your merry band could not come to live on Jupiter once we have settled all of this. Though it might be difficult for so many Earthlings to adjust permanently to our gravity. Truly I am not even sure how you would fare now. _

_Should you like though, my people have experience terraforming a number of colonies and moons. We would happily donate our time to making Earth's moon into a place worthy of being called its own world. And do not say it is too much. You and I have already professed that we are friends. I do not intend to leave you stranded on a glorified rock._

_Things are settling here. No, I will not be swayed about the sanctions. I will not ever allow Sol to forget that what Portia has done is unforgivable. We have lived without the Guardian's powers before and shall again. Give Venus half a year of peace – they'll capitulate back to our side of things by then. They crave the luxuries and riches of trade too much. Mercury, I can certainly sway. And I am only too happy not to deal with Uranus again._

_All are well here, though we may have a skirmish on our hands as there is a comet directing its attention towards Pluto. Or we could have new extra-Solar allies. I am always reminding Florencia of Mars that it should be diplomacy before arms. I ought to abide by my own advice._

_Forever yours,_

_Hippolyte_

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Hippolyte,_

_Truly there is no need to terra-form anything. The Moon is beautiful. You're right I am coming to appreciate it. The Earth is a magnificent thing to look at from here. But The Mother and Cornelia have advised me not to stare at it many times. It is still not easily done though it ahs been months here now. Our gardens are ready for harvest and the hundred-and-seven of us here shall soon be a hundred-and-eight. Aparently two of the priest and priestesses were sweethearts before making the journey here – and they love that there is no longer any sense living in separate temples. The Father priest is quite blustery about it but the Mother is amused. She says that though many opt for vows of celibacy in the temple's service they are hardly ever kept – it is just not as easy to catch the Priests at it as the Priestesses._

_And I should have mentioned the Moon has her own beauty – the sea turns a magnificent orange at the sunset and pink at dawn. The land is mostly plains but the hills are a rich green and there are many streams traversing the surface. It is not cold enough for ice yet but I see some frosts. That is exciting – I know I saw snow on Jupiter and ice in Kuiper but that was hard to enjoy amid the fighting. Perhaps I shall even learn to skate!_

_It is refreshing to be away from the fighting. I am only hopeful Sol remains at peace. I hope things are calm enough that you may visit soon, Hippolyte. Or I might take our horse to you, though I am loath to leave my people before we are sure everything here is set up to last._

_I miss you dearly,_

_Forever yours as well,_

_Serenity_

~_paxlunae_~

Hippolyte reviewed the transmission in her hand - received via fire call mere minutes ago.  
"And this is all you heard"  
"fire went out as they discussed. We're unsure the reason."  
She crumpled up the text. "Get me Neptune...and warn Uranus as well."

…_Initial contact proved hostile intents. no survivors from 60-strong delegation. Ice attacks. beings humanoid. fast. comet moving rapidly towards Neptunese system. Withdrawing from embargo imm.._

~_paxlunae_~

_Esteemed Cousins of Neptune and Saturn,_

_As you have sided with the Jupers in this matter, your request for assistance is denied. While you may have felt it finally prudent to break your agreement, I do not forget such choices quickly. _

_Her Royal Majesty Portia Terran, Chief of the Magae, Governess of all the land upon the Earth &amp; Steward of all trade upon the seas._

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Serenity,_

_I am so glad to hear you're fairing well. Jupiter is well. I am well though I miss you and think of you often. I am busy with some business but I shall visit as soon as able._

_Forever yours,_

_Hippolyte_

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Hippolyte,_

_You say all is well, but I am worried from the brevity of your letter. What business keeps you? There is not any war is there? I dearly hope not.__Please don't shield me from the goings-on. I still have my wits if not my power._

_Earth has not been quiet. I have seen carriages and ships racing towards the planet for the past week. And from your alliance planets too: One from Neptune, even. And I saw an Earth delegation depart just yesterday on what seemed like every flying horse in their stables, even a few like foals. All of them glowed gold with The Guardian's power, and they were racing incredibly fast. To where? Uranus?_

_Please tell me the truth, Hippolyte._

_Forever yours,_

_Serenity_

~_paxlunae_~

_Dear Hippolyte,_

_It has been near-on a month without reply from you, and I am growing worried. Has some conflict broken out amongst the planets? And I have been worrying about that extra-solar visitor. Have they proven hostile? Have you gone to fight them._

_Please send me some missive or courier informing me what has happened. I still have Moonlight. I can take up arms alongside all of you._

_I know something is wrong. The Earth was recently coated in the Golden Crystal's light, completely covered from pole to pole. And though it has faded I know that shield remains up. At first I considered whether Portia were only paranoid, but now I am not sure. _

_Even as I write I see a contingent of Earthling soldiers leaving the atmosphere – it appears Portia's managed to raise more of your flying horses. They're coated in the Golden Crystal's light as well. _

_Hippolyte, what is going on?_

_Forever yours,_

_Serenity_

~_À Suivre_~


	23. Darkness Falls

AN: Another double week! And old enemies abound…well…chronologically new enemies. It wasn't just Metalia that did battle with Sol's Guardians before the time of The Nine Senshi. This is another of those familiar enemies (Anyone who's watched the 2nd movie or read Manga vol. 11 will know exactly whom this is). And Serenity is about to face them without any of her magic!

Disclaimer: We've all agreed not to sue me right? Excellent. Here goes.

Last Time On Pax: Serenity has spent a year in exile and in correspondence with the Queen of Jupiter, having to read from afar as enemies penetrate Sol's defences once more…

Darkness Falls

Serenity tucks the golden habit tighter around her. She, unlike the others, had not been able to pack even a coat before being exiled, so The Mother had simply let her keep this. Though the woman has no other gold habit it seems, and Serenity refuses to ponder the implications of being gifted the ceremonial robe.

She kicks her legs against the stone siding of the Selen compound, staring out into the clear sky and watching the snowflakes blow in the wind, seemingly from no where.

_Something is going on_, she thinks. She doesn't need her Guardian powers to know snow on a clear night isn't in any way a normal occurrence.

Night on the moon has two extremes – pitch darkness and perpetual twilight. Tonight is the latter; the great blue pearl that is the Earth shines with enough light that most of the stars are not visible tonight. She can see the blue-tinted snowflakes scattering for miles, touching down on the frozen sea and blanketing the land in a fine, frozen dust.

It had been frosting over merely a week ago…only to suddenly become as chill as Kuiper overnight. She shivers in the warm habit. Yes, something is definitely going on.

"Thinking of your Juper again?" Cornelia says as she climbs up from the stairs.

"She's hardly mine."

"Your face tells a different story," Cornelia says as she plops down beside her. She's wearing a thick coat stitched together with burlap thread and made with rabbit hide – proof that her former maid is as skilled a huntress as she is a seamstress. And there's also no keeping any secrets from her.

Serenity sighs. "It has been two months without a letter. Even right after the Golden Crystal was taken…she always wrote. And I _know _something is going on." She scowls as the wind blows in her face, spewing painfully cold snowflakes against her skin. "And where is this coming from?"

Cornelia shrugs. "Dunno…but it's pretty at least." She sticks out her tongue to catch one. "Milady… try not to worry. The Queen can surely take care of herself."

"Yes, but she takes care of others more," Serenity says. The memory of Hippolyte sacrificing herself for Serenity in Kuiper comes vividly to mind. She shivers. "I just feel so isolated…We have no great fire here, nor mirror. I don't even have one of their corks. All I have are the damn letters. Goodness, Farah must be sick of Jupiter by now."

"Actually she rather enjoys the trips." Cornelia giggles. "Poor girl: never had a crush before and her first time out of the temple she stumbles across a Juper princeling. Oh don't tell the others though. She's afraid all the Sisters will tease her to death."

Serenity only nods, unable to see much humour in it. The last time Farah had returned she had spoken of Jupiter's preparations for war. Her last letter had not even made it to Jupiter – Farah had been stopped by a Martian patrol as she approached the asteroid belt and been told that Hippolyte was off world, and that they would see the letter to her.

Cornelia sighs as she sees there is no chance of comic relief and readjusts herself on the edge of the roof, throwing her coat around Serenity as well and tucking herself under the habit. She settles into Serenity's side and closes both coats around them so that most of the cold stays outside. "Everything will be alright, Milady," she says.

_How can it be if I can't do anything_? Serenity thinks, frustrated. But there isn't anything else she can think to say that Cornelia won't simply combat with her unending optimism. So she remains quiet, training her eyes on the twilight sky, away from her old world and out into space. Occasionally she pulls the beat-up old telescope from her pocket and trains it upwards. The stars are still far; the planets, not visible; and the snow flurries on as far as she can strain her sight – with no source at all.

As the hours carry on under the mysterious snowfall, more people trickle up to the roof. First Zinea with tea, then several of the civilians with several torches. Farah settles in on the edge of the roof and passes extra habits down the line to cover their legs against the cold. And at last The Mother – who has recently been insisting on being called again by her given name, Asha. She stands behind Serenity and Zinea and places a warm hand on each of their shoulders. She too keeps a vigil of the sky.

"It is a strange snow," Zinea says after a time; it is the only thought voiced for many hours. It continues to be strange. As most of the community sleeps the twenty or so who have congregated on the roof continue to watch. And Serenity continues to sweep the sky periodically with the telescope as it gets a lighter and lighter shade of lavender. She isn't sure what she's looking for. But the snow feels like a sign. She does not have dreams anymore, none of her predecessors to show her what things to watch out for. She only has a gut feeling. She's had it since the first flake fell on her face at noon out of a perfectly bright, clear sky. She's had it since the temperature dropped from chilly to bitter in mere hours. _It's just a feeling. Everyone get's them when their anxious. There's nothing magical about it_, she considers as she scans the skies again. But still, normal people listen to their gut feelings. She's going to listen to hers.

She's just putting the telescope away, since Sol's light is breaching the horizon and making it far too light to see out into space, when Asha squeezes her shoulder and one of the civilians along the wall gives a shout.

"Up there!"

Tired as she is, she whips the telescope back into position with stunning alacrity and scans the skies. Cornelia grabs the telescope, directing it towards what the civilian has spotted.

Something gold is soaring down through The Moon's atmosphere, pulled by two creatures with grey hides, massive hooves, and singular, silver horns crowning their brows. Bright blue-green manes and tails cascade out behind them. She leaps from the roof, winding herself when she lands hard in the dirt, still unused to the loss of her sailor agility. She ignores the calls from above about whether she is hurt and stands. Her walk strengthens as she approaches the landing unicorns and the chariot they pull. She waves them in, breaking into a jog and then a run as she catches her first view of the armour-clad rider. Their face is obscured, but she is sure this time. Only one Juper has tamed unicorns for their chariot.

She is even more sure when the Charioteer leaps over the side of the vehicle and runs to meet her, lifting her off the ground as Hippolyte's laugh echoes from within the helmet.

"I'm sorry I didn't write." Hippolyte murmurs as she sets Serenity on her feet again and removes her helmet. Her face is pale and her lips a bit blue despite the heating charms she knows are soaked into the structure of every chariot.

"You look freezing," Serenity says, unclipping her habit and throwing it around Hippolyte. "Come on get inside."

"I am p-perfectly fine," Hippolyte says even as she whips off her gloves to bury her hands in the warmed wool. The gloves are soaked with melted snow and sweat. "T-though" she stutters as her teeth chatter. "I might like to st-tand in a fire af-fter that flight."

By the time they reach the compound it seems the entire lunar population has streamed out to meet them – even those who have slept through the night. Farah takes charge of the unicorns, cooing over the beautiful creatures, while Serenity's closest friends nod to her, discussing tea boiling in the kitchen and chastising her for leaping off the roof.

And the others, she notes, bow (much to Hippolyte's amusement).

"It seems you weren't kidding about your new royal status."

"They're bowing to you," she retorts. "They've never met a royal they actually approve of" though she's a sinking suspicion – especially as Cornelia winks at Serenity and bows lower than the rest – that the gesture is intended for her as well.

~_paxlunae_~

"You've made quite the home for yourselves here," Hippolyte observes once her teeth have stopped chattering. They've tucked in around the kitchen furnace, warming themselves up by the fire. Hippolyte's armour is at their feet along with her gloves, boots, even her socks. She readjusts the borrowed rabbit coat around herself. Cornelia had taken her first look at the Juper Queen and all but shoved it at her, muttering something about "Exactly like each other," before rushing from the kitchen.

Serenity nods, taking the first tray of bread rolls for the day out of the oven and setting them on the kitchen's long table. She grabs two for the both of them. "It's been easier with the harvest in – I've grown to like fish well enough, but I was getting sick of it." Hippolyte smiles, tearing into the roll as it is passed to her and holding it to her face – appreciating the heat in a way that makes Serenity think she's been cold for far too long. "I knew winter would be different here – but this snow set in so suddenly."

"Every world has its share of strange weather patterns," Hippolyte says. "Why there's deserts on Saturn that periodically have diamond showers – nasty to be caught in one of those…and they're dreadful for the value of the gems on the trade markets."

Serenity nods. "Yes…but this snow comes from no where. In fact, I'd almost bet it's coming from space."

Hippolyte glances at her. "It might be."

Serenity sighs. Clearly the Queen doesn't want to talk about it. "Have you been getting my letters?"

"Yes – Saluta Florencia delivered the last one to me only a few days ago. She read it first, of course; she couldn't help herself." Hippolyte chuckles. "In any case. I read it and I asked that they excuse me for a brief time from my duties as I had no means of writing you a letter at the time…and I couldn't leave you in the dark."

Serenity nods. "Have you travelled far?"

"Oh no, just…just a two day trip. Earth's orbit is taking it closer to the asteroid belt, and I happened to be in a nearby sector."

"Doing what,"

"Fighting of course – but it's just a skirmish: couple of minor comet dwellers stirring up trouble. Nothing to worry the Guardian over." She grins. "But they're fast – make's em a bother to chase."

Serenity raises her eyebrow at the queen, gaze falling on the armour which is dented and cracked – likely from exposure to quite extreme amounts of cold. "Mhmmm."

Hippolyte sighs, stuffing a bit of the hot breakfast roll into her mouth. "Look," she mumbles, eyes downcast. "Can we just pretend for a bit that I'm not lying?"

Serenity cocks her head at her. "But you will tell me what's going on?"

"Yes," Hippolyte swears. "But I'd just like to spend some time not thinking about it," she says, grabbing Serenity's hand. "You know I haven't seen you in a year. And I never see you when we're not fighting some monster or another. I just want to pretend every things peacetime for _once_."

Serenity bites her lip. The Terrans had pretended it was peacetime for many years when Metalia made it the exact opposite. _It must be bad then_. But she squeezes the queen's hand and smiles. "Well if you've been traveling for two days you need to eat more. Here," she reaches up to one of the warming trays on top of the oven and scoops out the contents with a spoon. "Try it with these. They're nuts we found growing out in the hills. They're delicious roasted…"

~_paxlunae_~

"Left…right, _careful_."

"I'm being careful!" she shouts as she slips again, narrowly avoiding another collision with the ice as Hippolyte skates back to her, laughing, and steadying her feet.

"You'd think someone as agile as you wouldn't be so clumsy," Hippolyte teased.

"I am balancing on _ice_ using _knife blades_," Serenity retorts, taking both Hippolyte's hands and scowling as the queen begins to skate backwards without any effort.

Hippolyte laughs at her; the melodious sound makes her feel warm despite the bitter air. "See that's what's keeping you from actually doing it," she says, turning them round and letting go of one of Serenity's hands so she can skate at her side. "It is just like learning to walk on a boat for the first time – you need your ice legs so-to-speak."

They'd wound up on the ice once the noontime sol-light guaranteed a certain level of warmth. Though indeed, Serenity thinks, it is just as cold as before. It even feels colder. She tightens her grip on Hippolyte's arm and focuses on gliding over the ice, letting the Queen do the work of moving them one precise stroke of her feet at a time. The rhythmic scrap of her skates across the sea ice fills the silence as Serenity ponders all the things they are avoiding.

Such as the fact that Hippolyte had two pairs of ice skates in her war chariot, and a broken third pair, according to Farah. Such as the fact that some of the dents in her armour looked like icicle punctures the more Serenity stares at them, and how her hands and arms sport bandages that she is now sure cover up frostbite.

The snow is definitely coming from space, though it has thinned out since morning. _What is she fighting? _Serenity thinks, pulling the Juper queen closer.

"Are you leaving today?" she asks after a time.

Hippolyte sighs. "No…the unicorns require the rest, strong as they are." She whirls them around on the ice again, taking a path Serenity notices is winding them slowly back towards the beach. "There is fighting…heavy fighting. And it is irresponsible of me to have even come here…but I insisted. I had to warn you."

"Warn me of what?"

"That…that regardless of what you see or hear…please stay here. Don't throw yourself into this fight."

"But…but you said yourself: I still have my sword."

"Serenity." Hippolyte shakes her head. "They can freeze swords," she whispers. "Why do you suppose I have not brought my axe with me. It's stuck in a Glacier somewhere on one of Uranus' moons."

"You've been fighting Uranus!" she gasps.

"Hardly," the Queen says. "We were fighting alongside them… the agreement about the Earth was scrapped ages ago. In fact the forces Portia sent rejected their own orders to join my coalition…and Uranus is lost anyways."

_What_? She digs the toes of her skates into the ice, dragging them to a halt and tugging Hippolyte until she faces her. "What do you mean 'lost?'"

Hippolyte's fists clench, her thumbs running over frostbitten knuckles. Serenity moves to grab her hands. "It's frozen solid."

She gapes, unable to comprehend: _a whole planet_. "By what?"

"What's a good enough word," Hippolyte sighs. "They're living… we think. They're some perverse interpretation of humanoid, for sure. Some are hypothesizing that what we're fighting are the drones…not too keen to meet what's controlling them given how effective they are.

"And…and these things froze a _planet_?"

Hippolyte looks down at their hands – Serenity's hold fast to hers. She turns her own so that her palms rest in The Guardian's and gives them a squeeze. "Three…they're having trouble with Saturn only because we were able to set up some legions of Veneficii in its ring system. Mars has been invaluable in all this. A couple Earthling magae as well…but they can even put out liquid fire given enough time." She snorts. "It was almost funny…the look on Flore's face when they extinguished her arrows in midair."

It hardly sounds funny. Serenity checks over Hippolyte again, surely the Queen has more wounds than she's let on.

"My left side is a bit bruised," the Queen's voice is amused. "They're a tough fight, but Mercury's working out something to manage them…and we're sure Portia will at least vanquish them when they reach the Earth. It's just a matter of keeping them away from Mars and Venus."

"And Jupiter?" Serenity asks, heart plummeting as Hippolyte shakes her head.

"My world's well defended…but they see little point in defending it world with resources that have failed three other times…and we need to put the Veneficii where they're most useful. Still," she smirks, "my world's too big to freeze easily…and my people are quite adept at setting things on fire after the horde. They'll manage for a while."

"But they're losing," Serenity throws back at her. That is what's been nagging at her. Hippolyte has never, in all her time with her, left her people during war. _Not unless no one, not even her saw a point in staying. _

Hippolyte's mouth smooths into a grim line. She looks skyward. "They've been focusing on planets…the moons are mostly being left untouched. As long as they appear uninhabited." She directs her intense, green gaze down on Serenity. "So you must stay here. Lie low. They're unlikely to notice 100-odd people.

"Hippolyte…"

"Serenity we're on our last legs…but this enemy does not seem the staying type. They take no hostages or resources…trophies seem their only goal. Worse case we wait for them to pass through."

"And if they freeze Sol?"

"Impossible," Hippolyte scoffs, though she looks away, her grip on Serenity's hands tightens, her feet direct them back at a faster pace back towards the shore. "It's a freaking star: there isn't any way."

_But you don't know… _Serenity sighs. "I want to go back up with you."

"No," the Queen says, shaking her head stiffly. "There isn't any point in you going up there with only a sword."

"And there isn't any point in you going back there to die!" she fires back.

Hippolyte shakes her head. "I've got to try…"

"Why can't I do the same?" Serenity retorts. "I can lead just as well as you and I'm just as effective in a fight."

Hippolyte shakes her head again. "I can't… look," she finally says after running through what must have been several responses. "I am not being a hypocrite…okay, I am, a little. There's already too many of Sol's people in this fight. And you're the best defence the Moon has…as well: you lead this place. What if we need you to continue building it up…it may be the only place left to go." Hippolyte looks out over the landscape, now completely covered in snow. "It is quite beautiful."

Serenity sighs. "Well we're not hiking it today…can you make your skates go faster."

Hippolyte smirks. "You could attempt to move on your own."

"This is more fun," she retorts. "Hurry up, I don't want to be out in the cold any longer."

"Yes, my Queen," Hippolyte says, bowing slightly. Like Cornelia: trying to fill desperate times with some humour.

Serenity plays along. "Stop _calling _me that," she whines, maintain the distracting banter. (Though she knows they're putting up a poor farce of pretending everything is peacetime.)

She leaves Hippolyte in the kitchens when they arrive, saying she'll take the skates back to the chariot while the Queen rummages around for a lunch. She passes one pair off to Cornelia on her way. "Put them under my bed," she tells her.

That night they all retire to the old Selen guard-quarters: rooms lined with bunks from end to end. Hippolyte takes one across from her, and she watches the Queen pretend to sleep until she herself nods off. Somehow, she knows Hippolyte will already be gone when she wakes.

And she is right, but for one thing. The next morning she goes to the stables to feed the horse, a chore she's taken up gladly, but the beast is not in his stable. His tack is gone as well.

Instead there's a note on his door.

_Dearest Serenity,_

_I took the horse. I'm sorry. To be fair you took my skates, though you're dreadful at using them. I didn't want to leave you stranded, but I am still sure this enemy should ignore the Moon on its way through. It will get colder – but you're more than prepared to weather the storm. Truly, there would be nowhere else to go._

_On Jupiter it's thought to be impolite to promise fanciful things. So I shan't say I will return when this is all over – but I will do my best as always to survive. I am quite good at it, you know._

_I know you're going to worry. But please don't seek out ways to join in this fight._

_Forever yours,_

_Hippolyte._

~_paxlunae_~

"Ow!" Serenity shouts and a string of curses flies through the frigid air. They carry all the way to the Selen compound high above the beach, right up to the roof where Zinea and Asha keep watch over the Guardian.

"She's at it again is she?" Cornelia asks, coming up from below. She passes hot tea off to the two priestesses and leans over the high roof-top wall.

Below, The Guardian is rising shakily to her feet once more, a glare of death directed at the skates. She squares her shoulders and starts again: left, right, left right. Slowly she traverses the ice, arms outstretched like a bird's wings.

"If it makes her feel useful, leave her to it." Asha says, eyeing the snow. They'd had some respite for a spell, but the flurries had picked up again that morning. Presumably whatever Sol was fighting was close. Zinea had predicted that whatever this was might be bouncing through the Asteroid Belt seeking out the dwarf worlds. It may have hit Ceres and doubled back for one called Juno, whose orbit was much closer to them now.

Gold pigtails catch Cornelia's eye as they swing wildly. Serenity has stumbled again. Her arms flail back and forth as she struggles to right herself. It would be funny, Cornelia thought. It _should_ have been funny that Serenity was, finally, rubbish at something. But how could it be when the unknown threat to their whole star system loomed close enough to shed snow across their home. Cornelia sighs. "Whatever this is, I almost hope she gets to fight it."

"I don't," Zinea counters. "She's in a bad enough state. I hope it passes through and leaves us be – let her get used to being a normal person."

"She is normal," Asha remarks, tugging her plain cloak closer. "Just has a different purpose than most. The kind not even we can understand… She wants to fight." Asha rubs her hands together against the cold. "I agree with Cornelia; I hope she gets to as well."

"She'd be killed in seconds against anything magical."

"Oh surely not," Cornelia gasps.

"I don't mean to be morbid…but did you _see_ Queen Hippolyte's armour? I can't imagine Serenity without her powers would do any good."

"She might surprise you," Asha says. "And as I was saying…the kind of purpose she has isn't the kind you grow out of. She depends on it. I'd rather she fight knowing it's where she needs to be than languish any longer here worrying. And I could do with her not snapping at everything that moves."

"I still rather her alive," Zinea says.

Cornelia watches as Serenity pauses in the middle of the ice, staring up at the bright sun. She watches the Selen Princess take a deep, centring breath and is almost certain she's closed her eyes. The Guardian shifts her left foot, then her right… left, right. Her arms fall to her sides, then behind her as she continues in a straight line across the ice. She even begins to skate faster, leaning into the movement as she picks up speed. She's moving for over thirty seconds – a record, when she does something she's never attempted in all the time's Cornelia's watched her.

Her foot shifts on the ice. She leans left. Her body executes a perfect turn. She can see Serenity's grin from here.

"She is full of surprises," Cornelia mutters. "I still hope she can fight – she does do her best when faced with something she can hit." _If only she had transportation_. Cornelia winces as the Guardian slips again, crashing down on her elbows.

"And she was doing so well." Asha sighs, turning towards the stairs that lead inside. "Don't let her stay out too long."

~_paxlunae_~

She can skate for nearly two minutes now. And she's only fallen three times today. Serenity sighs, wobbling through a turn as she aims for the beach, letting herself collapse on sand and snow, wiping her brow with the back of a rabbit-hide glove.

She's been out since dawn. Though it's cloudy now, so she hasn't any idea how long it's been.

The snow is still falling. It might even be natural now. She never does know. She closes her eyes, rubbing her hands together as she lies on the ground.

The snow has been heavy this week. She knows whatever it's cause is is close by. Rassake, why did Hippolyte have to head off her plans by taking her horse?

Being stranded here was bad enough when she didn't feel like she was being grounded from a fight. _How many planets must be frozen now. How many people killed?_

"_They just freeze them in the ice_," Hippolyte had confided after many persistent questions from Serenity. "_No idea if they're alive or dead…just frozen solid."_

She frowns as a sound reaches her ears, faint…like a whistle. _Don't be ridiculous it's the wind_.

But it sounds again. She jolts up, eyes snapping open.

That wasn't a whistle at all. That was a whinny.

Just then she sees the horse break through the clouds, flying erratically. She can see one of its wings flapping frantically while the other hangs listlessly down…covered in ice. It's falling towards the ice-capped ocean.

She launches to her feet before she's thought about how poor a skater she is. She races across the ice, picking up speed as the horse nears the ground. There's someone on its back, trapped within a small glacier– even their helmet is swallowed by an icy shell.

She meets the horse as it flaps its wing hard to avoid a collision with the ice and grabs its reins, guiding it down and reaching out to brace it as its hooves skid on the surface. She puts its face between her hands and coos until it calms. "There good. Good. You'd get an apple if we had any, but I hope grain will do." Then she turns her attention to the rider.

He's frozen, a block of ice encasing his entire body. It's frozen him to the horse, ice chunks weighing heavily on both stirrups. And through the translucent ice, she can make out the insignia on his armour: a four emblazed on a green crest with pink trim around the edges. _Juper_. She even recognizes this horse's blue star-marking from many of Hippolyte's campaigns. The same ice has frozen the horse's wing at the joint. She supports that as she guides the horse back towards land painfully slowly. She calls out towards the shore. "Help!"

~_paxlunae_~

They put the soldier by the fire, but he is so cold; he shows no signs of melting. She leaves him in the kitchen, and heads out to the stable with a knife. There, she perches on the side of the one occupied stall, chipping away slowly at the ice that has wounded the horse.

"You're a brave thing," she coos at it as she pries yet another piece of ice away from its wing. The horse wickers, shuffling from foot to foot. "No, hold still: I've got nearly all of it."

"How's it going?" Cornelia asks, leaning on the open stable door.

Serenity frowns. "Wing looks okay… bit frostbitten…"

"But he can fly?" Cornelia asks.

"Should – ahah!" Serenity cheers as the last chunk of ice pops free, falling into the dirt. She hops down from the wall and looks at Cornelia properly for the first time.

Her friend is cradling Moonlight in her arms, complete with the belt that will affix the sword to Serenity's waist. And the pair of skates is slung over her shoulder.

"I knew as soon as he landed you'd be going up," Cornelia says. "Doubly so once I got a good look at that soldier."

_The Juper insignia_, she's been trying not to think about it. But she knows exactly whom she's flying out to see.

"Here," Cornelia says, stepping up to her with the sword belt. She reaches around to clip it securely to Serenity's waist – as she had years ago the first time she'd dressed for a practice duel and had trouble securing the heavy weapon to herself.

Cornelia fixes the belt snugly about her waist, the sword perfectly placed for a quick draw. She beams at Serenity. "Promise me one thing."

She nods.

"Don't do anything more reckless than usual," Cornelia teases. "And…" she pauses, lifting the skates off her shoulder and slinging them over the stall door. Then she launches at Serenity, crushing her in a hug. "Promise you'll come back safe."

She swallows. "I'll do my best."

"Damn right you will." Cornelia sniffs, pulling away. "Now – let me help you with his saddle."

~_paxlunae_~

They've had no luck unfreezing the Juper soldier by the time she leaves; the ice seems impervious to heat. She tries to ignore what that might mean as she leans into the horse's mane. His natural heat barely keeps her warm in the unnaturally cold space.

Juno, Zinea had said, was closer than usual. She passed the first stray asteroids a few hours into her flight. She'd be crossing Mars orbital path soon, though the planet was millions of leagues away on the other side of Sol. _I wonder if it's already frozen_.

She's following the snow – the swirls of it that seem to drift through the space around the moon are, she can now see, being expelled from something still too far away to make out.

But it is bright, and she notes the flashes of white that streak through the sky around it, disappearing for long lengths of time behind what she assumes are the shadows of many asteroids. All the while, the bright thing – a comet perhaps – which is spewing the snow looms over them.

She glances down at her feet, already in the skates – She'd practiced retracting and releasing the blades in the boots just a few times before leaving the Moon. Worst case, she supposes she can run on the ice without the blades.

_As long as I can try to do something, _she thinks, urging the horse faster.

~_paxlunae~_

Juno is usually a dark and desolate place, used for mining Zinea had told her. But now it reflects Sol's light with blinding intensity – its surface covered in ice and snow. She can see the flags of many armies half buried there.

_Of all places, why this dwarf world to make such a great stand? _She thinks.

The bright red robes of the Veneficii are easy to see, but Serenity can hear their battle long before she's spotted them. She could hear it from far above: the blasts of magic intermingle with a painfully sharp series of cries – like shattering ice, she thinks – she wonders what in the universe can give voice to such a sound.

_The drones…_ She gets her first look at them as she crests one of Juno's small mountains. She lands the horse on the mountain peak and hunkers down below a rock, watching the red robes of the Veneficii run over the ice, retreating from the creatures making the ear-splitting cries.

They look like people, Hippolyte was right, but some strange mockery of them. They're bodies are the bright white of pure glacial ice – carved out into flaring white dresses, perfectly coiffed hair, and athletic, bare arms and legs. _But_, she raises her small telescope to look at them. _That's all they are – ice – even their faces_. Those too are not true eyes or mouths, merely animated carvings.

And yet they act very much alive. They shriek when the Veneficii's spells blast their limbs apart, burn holes through their torsos, and send them tumbling as ice chunks into the snow. They even seem vengeful as their comrades fall to the spell-fire. And their aim is flawless. For every one of the Veneficii who attacks, two more must put up a shield. There are seven of them, and fourteen of the ice drones.

_Make that twenty, _Serenity thinks grimly as she spots new drones reforming from the snow on the ground. There's a victorious chime and a human shout as one sprouts from the ground beneath the Veneficii, grapping one of their legs.

She stows the telescope and motions for the horse to stay before leaping down the mountain slope. Her feet kick the blades free of the boots just in time to land. She pitches forward, but leans into the stumble, barrelling down the mountain impossibly fast. She draws her sword.

Moonlight Blast nearly leaves her lips before she remembers it will do no good. Ice and snow sting her eyes as she picks up speed, she squints against the wind, gritting her teeth. The drones shriek and five of them catch her approach. _Come at me_! She isn't disappointed.

The five who first spotted her swarm in, ice spewing from their too-long nails. She dodges most of the icy wind, deflects the rest, and runs two of the drones clean-through as she skids past, carrying on to chip off another's arm, a fourth's left leg. A fifth over-balances her sword when it freezes a chunk of ice to the tip. She clubs it across the face, cleaning her sword and breaking off its nose.

Spell-fire covers her as she slides between the dogged Veneficii, slicing off the icy arm that has dragged one of them to the ground and following through to lop off the drone's head. Spell fire blows most of the others to smithereens.

"Everyone alright?" she asks, panting, eyes on the few remaining drones.

"You-you were The Guardian," one of the Veneficii stutters.

"I still am The Guardian," she snaps.

"No time for that!" one – presumably the leader by the black trim on their robes – "They're regrouping."

She spins around to take in the icy plane. _Oh no_.

High above, the bright comet glows blue, and the snow around them as well. She stumbles as she gets her skates moving again, following along with the Veneficii as they fly across the ice. She chances a glimpse back and nearly loses her breath.

The drones rise like marionettes from the snow, their limbs regenerate – even their heads – and a new legion rises up with them as though they are bodies rising from frozen graves. She grips her sword tighter. One good "Rose Monsoon" would have done them in.

"We need to get up to that comet!" she shouts to the Veneficii ahead.

"Don't you think we're aware!" one snaps "Five battalions have tried – None have returned."

"LEFT!" she hears from the head of the group. She veers that way with the rest. Ice-wind whips past them, freezing the sleeve of her jacket as it passes within inches of her.

One venefica isn't so lucky. The Ice hits her in the back and she freezes where she stands, a block of ice encasing her half way through her tumble to the ground.

"Leave'em or be'em!" another Martian shouts as she tears her gaze away from the frozen Venefica.

They carry on just like this, constantly seeking cover. Two more of their number are felled by the ice-drones as they race across the plane. The Veneficii fire off spell after spell, and Serenity does her own work with her sword – or what little she can. But as they continue on her feet begin to skid as she looses her concentration. She stumbles into one of the Veneficii as they cross a bump in the ice.

"Watch it!" they yell as another blast of ice rockets between them. She skids left, trips over her left boot and crashes down on her side. She carries her momentum as far as she can by rolling – sword tucked close.

But the drones have not followed her path. Instead they zero in on the Martians – four in total, who carry on valiantly. Then the comet above them begins to emit its blue glow again, and the snow and ice shine the bright, eerie color as well. She watches ten more drones spring from the ground ahead of the Veneficii, flying at them with victorious shrieks. They swoop in quickly.

One of the four shouts something, diving out of the group and flying across the ice at a speed she's not even sure Hippolyte could manage. They tuck their arms close, their robes billowing out behind them. And some of the drones start to follow. Their three fellow Veneficii shout something. There's a crack.

The drones, the three Veneficii, and most of the plane are suddenly engulfed in flames. The drones evaporate as they fly into it, the same chime like shattering ice falling from their lips as they do. The remaining Veneficus continues speeding towards her, grabbing her by the arm as he passes and dragging her along, until they reach a depression in the ice – a deep crater.

"You're not in Sailor form," he mutters between spells as he sets up protections over their heads.

"My magic is gone," she replies. "But I still intend to fight."

"Was afraid of that," the Veneficii says gruffly. "Right, listen. You've got no chance fighting them."

She doesn't even try to argue, though she does grip her sword tighter.

"We're trying to take out that iceberg up there," the Veneficus says. "So we need to get this," he reaches into his coat and pulls out a small sphere, bright colors ebbing and flowing inside, "down into the mines."

"Mines?"

"Aye, There's some access tunnels couple miles that way." He jerks his thumb back in the direction they've just been chased from. "I'm fast, but most I can do is distract 'em a while. So if you're up to it –"

"I am."

"Then you skate as fast as you damn can – look for a Mercurian flag carved into the stone. It'll be frozen over, a'course but they inlayed it with steel, snow shouldn't ah' stuck to it."

She nods, grasping the sphere in both hands. It's uncomfortably hot. "Then what?"

"Then get this into the mine – I don' care how you do it. _Don't _let it shatter before that."

She looks down at the thing in her hands. "Okay."

"It'll explode see, and take a good chunk of this place up with it..."

She nods, sure she may be caught in the explosion as well. Still, "and whom should I assist after that?"

"Yah mean if we don't luck out and get a new Guardian ah' Mars?" he glares at her. "There's them Jupers picking up the stragglers who made it out of the settlements and mines – and distracting most of these.

_This isn't most of them_, she thinks, biting her lip as she imagines Hippolyte against double the number they've just evaded. "Then I'll head their way."

"Take this," he pulls a cork from his ear and shoves it at her. "Warn 'em when you're close."

She nods, tucks the sphere into her coat, and peeks above the edge of the crater. Drones hover over the nearby plane, and she can see them all along the direction she's meant to go.

"Count of three," she whispers to the Veneficii. "One…two…"

"Three," he grunts as he hoists himself out of the crater again, skating back towards the ice-drones and shouting as he goes. Spears of fire spring from his closed fists and he throws them into the drones as they approach, drawing all of them within sight to the impressive display of firepower.

She doesn't waste any more time. Drawing the hood of her fur coat, she shuffles along the crater, hoping to pass most of the fighting, and leaps out a couple dozen yards away. Her feet are shaky on the ice, but she powers through, propelling herself forward one stroke at a time. She hears the fighting intensify behind her, dozens of shrieks splitting the air, intermingling with the roar of the Veneficus' fire-power. She skates on, only drawing Moonlight once. She uses the flat of the blade to push off of a large rock, making a narrow turn. She's gone a full few minutes of skating around twists and turns in the roads on Juno's surface, and can make out the shining steel of the mine entrance when an icy wind clips her shoulder. She shouts, tumbles off her feet and deflects the next attack off her blade. She checks the sphere, intact in the inner pocket of her coat. She takes it out as she deflects the next blast, getting to her feet once more.

"I'M AT THE MINE," she shouts into the comm-cork. She doesn't know who can hear. As it is, the shriek of the ice-drone facing her cuts off any response. She stares into its lifeless icy eyes as it leers at her, throwing blast after blast of snow and ice towards her. She sees patches of it growing on the edges of her jacket, the toes of her skates. She weaves left and right to avoid the worst of it, remembering something the Veneficii and Hippolyte had done.

_I am about to die,_ she thinks, digging the toe of her skate into the ice. _Who's around to care if I fall like a fool. _She kicks off the ice with force, propelling herself backwards, then again, off her right skate, another stroke, a fourth.

_I have my ice legs now, Hippolyte_. She grins for all the good it does her. Then grimaces as the frostbite on her face makes the movement burn. Her lip splits open in the cold. She deflects another attack off her sword.

The mine is only hundred yards or so across the icy plane. And she spins her sword as she powers backwards, eyes never leaving the impassive face of the drone. It shrieks again, and dodges a shot from the left. Two more spring out of the mountainside snow to join it. She glances back: clear all the way to the mine. She weaves back and forth, trying to be harder to hit. _This isn't so difficult, _she thinks, lifting the sphere. "In range." She shouts again. The door to the mine might be shut, but she can see darkness from within where the ice has warped the metal – splitting the doors open down the middle. If she can just pry them open wide enough to throw the sphere… She continues spinning Moonlight until the last second, watching the ice collect on the blade as it gets harder and harder to spin.

Then the wind is knocked out of her as she slams into the mine door. She whirls, an icy blast narrowly missing her as she jams Moonlight into the gap into the door and wrenches it to the left. There's a crack as frozen metal hinges break apart, and the left side door falls inside. She reaches her arm back about to throw and hears a shriek.

Her arm chills halfway through her throw. An ice blast has hit her in the elbow, freezing it in a bent position.

She won't possibly be able to chuck the sphere far enough.

She swivels to block an attack with her sword and glances at her frozen right arm. _I wonder how fragile this is..._ _going to find out_. "I'm throwing it!" she shouts, hoping the Jupers will here. She tosses the ball gently into the air with her wrist. She raises her sword.

"_DON'T!"_ Hippolyte's voice crackles through the cork.

The flat of her blade contacts the sphere, splintering it, and sending it hurtling into the depths of the mine. She's already taking off across the ice when she hears the clink and shatter echo back to the surface. The drones abandon her, huddling near the mine entrance. She moves as fast as she can.

She hears the roar in the mine at the same time as her skate catches an exposed rock underfoot, and as the explosion begins shaking the ground, she tumbles off her feet. Her skate pops free of her foot as she slides across the ice on her elbows. A boom sounds behind her. She sees the bright orange light and rolls onto her back, hoping she can at least catch one of the drone's melting in the explosion.

"_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" _Someone grabs her frozen arm and heaves her to her feet. She's wobbling on one skate and being dragged across the ice at record speed before she realizes whom this is.

"Hi," she manages to say as the explosion sucks up the ground behind them. Hippolyte's mouth is set in a grim line as she drags them at breakneck speed over the ice, aiming for the open siding of a cliff.

"Keep your sword close!" she shouts, and Serenity stuffs it back into its scabbard as they go pitching over the side of the cliff. Hippolyte grabs a whistle around her neck and blows hard as they begin to fall towards an icy death below.

She spots the blue manes of the unicorns flying up towards them as the cliff overhead explodes, debris raining down on them. She puts an arm over her head as Hippolyte does the same, her other arm gripping tightly to Serenity's waist. The chariot dives in right below them and they land hard on the floor. She grabs hold of the side as it tilts, and narrowly avoids falling out. Hippolyte pulls herself up and grabs the reins, tugging until the craft is righted and shouting to the unicorns as they charge faster and faster away from the exploding dwarf-world.

Her eyes widen as she takes in the plume of fire that has risen up from the mine, chunks of rock slamming into the comet that hovers over the oblong world. It slams into blue icicles and knocks chunks of the object away, swallowing them in the fire which grows up, up, up, until it's consumed the asteroid.

"Thank _friggin _Ra," Hippolyte gasps. "What in Sol were _you _doing with the orb?"

"The Veneficii were in trouble. They gave me the orb to complete the task."

"And get yourself _blown up_," Hippolyte curses as they fly near an amassing fleet of chariots and ships. "_Completely, repulsively, opportunistic, Martian –"_

"Well the worst that would have happened is we get a new Guardian of Mars."

"I don't want a new Guardian!" Hippolyte glares at her, the red on her face not entirely from the cold.

Serenity opens her mouth to respond, to check _why_ a new Guardian would not be a good thing to the queen, when a growing blue over Hippolyte's shoulder draws her attention. Her eyes widen and she grips the queen's arm in terror, making her whirl around as well.

The blue of the comet shines from within the still spreading explosion and they watch as the orange fire hisses and cools into frozen ash before their eyes, falling onto Juno's remaining surface and into the surrounding space. And from the cloud of ash the comet emerges. Its icicle shell re-grows as they watch, and drones sprout from them fully formed with more attacks on their hands.

"_Damnit!" _Hippolyte's face falls, her eyes far away. "That was our best go at it…"

They watch as the comet shines, drones swarming the surface of Juno until it is frozen in a seam-less coat of ice. The entire fleet watches, unable to think of anything else to do. She can spot hundreds of their fallen comrades and weapons frozen on the surface.

Hippolyte taps the cork in her ear. "Flore, get your people ready…It may yet go for the Earth first, though not if their pattern of conquest persists," she sighs. "Everyone fall back…closest habitable zones are several hundred miles in." She tugs the reins as she says this, shoulders sagging. The weight of whichever decision they make is clearly her burden to bear. "Do I need to tell anyone not to engage?"

"Everyone's clear on that, Commander." She hears a soldier say through the cork.

"Rendezvous in a few hours."

"If only we had The Guardian," someone else says. Serenity clenches her hands into fists as she watches Hippolyte bite her tongue on a retort.

_Yes, if only they did_, she thinks, slumping into the seat of the craft. Her eyes follow the comet as it picks up speed, turning every asteroid in its path to ice.

~_paxlunae~_

"Going forward," Hippolyte says as they huddle around a large fire with the first Martian battalion. Serenity hangs back near the exit, unsure of her place amongst these defeated soldiers. Hippolyte steals her dozenth-or-so glance at the Guardian as she continues planning. "It seems prudent to have Mercury and Venus evacuate as many of their people as is possible…though I think we should avoid telling the civilians what's coming." Hippolyte runs a frostbitten hand over her face as she looks around the fire at everyone. "Unless the fleet of new cargo ships has magically quadrupleted."

"I'll worry about telling them that." Florencia says across the fire. The light makes the lines of exhaustion on her face even deeper. "I've just told my Second to institute the lottery tonight."

"How many can your moons hold?"

"1,000 between them," Florencia says. "Though they can't possibly sustain that number." She lets out a long breath through her nose. "I don't want you to join us in the morning. Carry on to evacuate Sol's last two worlds." She puts two fingers to her lips and smiles, waving them at Hippolyte and the Jupers. Her company "It was good fighting with you, friends."

The Martian salute is too much for Serenity. _They're going to their deaths because of me,_ she thinks, pushing off the wall of the cave they've hunkered down in and stalking out onto the bright surface of the asteroid. She climbs the bare rocks until she's got a clear view of Sol and settles on the rocks. Even if she were to die now, even if the succession of The Guardian was guaranteed, there would not be a new Guardian of Mars born in time. _I should have anticipated this… sacrificed myself sooner. _She fists her hands in her hair. _Why didn't Portia just kill me_? She thinks, tears splashing down onto her knees.

_Except_… she sniffs. _What if she tried? _Serenity frowns at the thought. Brow furrowing in thought. She looks out at Sol and bites her lip, considering.

She was unconscious for hours after the fight with Metalia. She had been vulnerable. _Why_ had Portia left her alive?

She closes her eyes, soaking up the scant warmth from their star as she considers. _Romula's spell dictated that no Monarch could kill or conspire to kill a Guardian…so what if Portia tried after my powers were gone…and still did not succeed? _She sniffs. Romula's spell was tied to the Guardian's magic. _What if there really is some part of me left that is… the Guardian?_

"Serenity…" Hippolyte's whisper breaks through her thoughts. The Juper queen puts a gentle hand on her shoulder as she kneels on the rock beside her. "This isn't your fault."

She shakes her head. "I know…but I may have a way to solve it."

The queen's hand on her shoulder tightens and she reaches out to grab Moonlight. "You're not going to –"

"Not that." Serenity says, meeting the Queen's eyes. "I did consider that…but I've something else I've just thought of."

Hippolyte stares at her for a long time before she releases her grip on the sword. "Okay."

"I think there may still be something of The Guardian left in me," Serenity explains, her hands figiting in the bright Sol-light as she thinks. "See…maybe the Golden Crystal was the soul of Earth, right?"

Hippolyte nods.

"And…that was how I got my connection to Earth's powers…but I have my own soul as well!" she realizes "That's what Tana separated the Golden Crystal _from_…but whatever makes me the Guardian isn't attached to the Golden Crystal."

"How do you know?" Hippolyte queried.

"Doesn't matter, what does is…I'm not just Earth's Guardian: I'm Sol's" she points towards the bright, yellow star. "I don't know how…there might not be a way. But maybe…maybe I can still access Sol's powers."

"But you never managed it before."

"I know," Serenity says. "I need to…there must be a way to do it."

Hippolyte goes quiet for a while as they stare towards Sol. Finally "When you came to Jupiter, you couldn't access its powers at first…you had to go up to the Eerie."

"And on Pluto I needed to use their Sands of Time to complete my first teleport."

"So is that the trick then?" Hippolyte asks. "Every other Guardian, they visited the other worlds and merged with their powers…that's how they became Sailor Sol."

"But I can't transform right now… I can only access other planets' magic as a Sailor." Serenity sighs frustrated. "And the other centers of power are frozen, regardless."

"Not all of them." Hippolyte's voice cracks. "I mean." She waves at the star. "There's Mercury and Venus,"

"And Sol," Serenity breathes.

"Excuse me?"

The Guardian stands abruptly, holding out her hands to the Queen. "How fast can we get to Mercury?"

"Florencia has one of the smaller rockets…it would take four days by that."

"Is it big enough for your chariot to fit in."

"Plenty…why?"

"Because…" Serenity swallows. "I need to get as close as possible…and it's fast but I can't get close enough without it overheating. But your unicorns…surely if they can manage extreme cold they can do it"

"Do what?"

She gestures again toward bright light in the sky. "I need to get to Sol."

~_paxlunae_~

They set out that night, telling no one what they plan. Hippolyte steers the rocket shakily, unused to the technology of the controls. But Serenity does not mention the jerky trajectory of the craft. In fact for much of the journey she remains in small cabin in the co-pilot's seat, hands tight on the edge of the control panel and eyes never leaving the sun.

They encounter none of the other planets as they fly, though the comet is a bright white blemish in the distance. "It must be through with Mars," Hippolyte comments. "It's next target is Earth then…" But they'll make it to Sol long before the Comet completes it's path to the third planet.

She grows more sure of her plan as they near Sol, passing Mercury's path and one of it's many solar satellites on the fourth day of the flight. "Are you going to…" Hippolyte mumbles.

She nods. "Just get me as close as you can."

The proximity to the star makes the unicorns nervous as they throw the rocket into stasis and open the bay doors. It consumes their entire view and the sporadic flares of gas and plasma spook the beasts. Still "they've flown into volcanos before to pick of stranded explorers." Hippolyte says. "They're magic enough to do a fly by."

"And you'll turn around as soon as it's too much for you?" she comments, noting the burnt tinge to Hippolyte's face. Her own face has grown red and dry the closer they came.

"I can handle it," the queen says hoarsely. "Come on we're ready."

She is silent as they fly out of the rocket, nearer and nearer to Sol until the horses rear back, pulling away into a close orbit, but approaching no further. She can see the white light of the comet as a spec in the distance. "This is going to work." She tells Hippolyte. "I'm sure."

The queen nods, shielding her eyes against the blinding light though she already has shaded glasses on as well. "I trust you."

"I know," Serenity says, approaching the side of the chariot. She climbs up on the seat and then onto the edge.

"Wait!" Hippolyte gasps, her hand reaches out to snatch Serenity's.

The Guardian turns away from Sol, cocking her head as Hippolyte steps closer, still gripping her hand.

The queen bites her lip, eyes shifting all around, before meeting Serenity's gaze boldly. "On Jupiter, we have. Many customs."

She nods, eyebrow raised as she waits for the queen to explain.

"And specifically, regarding war…you know we don't like to promise things… not when we're unsure whether we'll live to carry them out." She steps closer to Serenity's perch on the chariot railing, her hand clammy as it grips the Guardian's. "There's also some things…we do not say during war – not for the first time especially. There is a sense that with death looming so close, sentiments mean less." The queen explains, growing more confident as she speaks. "To that point…there's something I've wanted to say to you…but could not when the battles around us were so constant." She smiles. "So please come back to me, because there's something I'm very impatient to say to you." And keeping her eyes on Serenity, she lifts The Guardian's hand to her lips and leaves a kiss on her skin. "Do you understand?"

Serenity bites back a grin as she blushes, squeezing Hippolyte's hand before releasing it. "I understand. When this is over…there's something I should probably say to you in return." And without turning she leaps off the edge of the Chariot, her eyes on Hippolyte as the Queen rushes to the edge of the craft, leaning over the railing. Their eyes locked on each others as Serenity falls away from the magical protection of the chariot and into the immense heat at her back. She sees fire light the edges of her hair, and her habit, and closes her eyes, keeping Hippolyte's gaze in mind. Everything is impossibly red, searing, and bright as Sol consumes her.

~ _Á Suivre~_


	24. More Than Gold

AN: We have reached the penultimate stage of Serenity Selen's story, and it tis a shorter instalment… but at last a few mysteries shall be thrown into the light.

Disclaimer: Naoko came to my door today, offering to turn this into a new instalment of the Manga…OH WAIT. That was a dream. LMAO.

Last Time On _Pax_: Six of Sol's nine worlds have been frozen by the mysterious ice-drones and their comet. Faced with the death of all she holds dear, Serenity realized there might still be a way to access her ultimate form: Sailor Sol. Based on a hunch, Hippolyte and she made the trek to their home star and Serenity threw herself into Sol's unforgiving fires – to what end? We're about to find out.

More Than Gold

Empress Hippolyte of Jupiter's face is cracked and peeling from the heat of Sol as her chariot hovers as close as its stewards dare fly to the star. Her fingernails dig into the wooden siding of the craft as she leans out of it, body shaking from how tensely her muscles are wound. She hears her heart beat dully in her ears against the roar of Sol's endless fire. Her eyes are squinted behind shaded glasses, as if she can possibly see through Sol's violent exterior.

_Please, _she prays. _Please give her back to me._

~_paxlunae_~

"_Guardian?" she thinks, aware only of nothingness around her. "I need the Guardian?"_

"_Guardian…" a voice, not her own, echoes._

"_Guardian…"_

"_Guardian…"_

"_You are the Guardian," a wizened voice says. "You have only to see."_

_Serenity gasps, and whirls around. She's facing still more darkness, but within it, thousands of lights are glittering like distant stars. One glows brighter than the rest, expanding. And as surely it was far in the distance before, the source of the brightest light has suddenly appeared before her._

_It is a light-pink gem, perfectly cut. As she stares, the light within it begins spreading outwards, forming a silhouette, the impression of intricate braids, a glowing golden crescent, and warm eyes that take on a familiar green-hue._

"_Tana!" she beams at the ghostly figure._

"_I must apologize," the spirit of the old Guardian laments. "I intended the Golden Crystal to protect the Earth…I didn't foresee that it would result in such pain for you." There is a pensive frown on her face. "And yet you have carried on…and have, without anyone's help, found yourself here."_

"_Where is here?"_

"_Well," Tana looks around at the star-lit darkness. "You have merged with Sol, in a sense. It has only been done once until now."_

"_By Ra," _

"_The first Guardian of Sol," Tana confirms, "Who, at a critical moment, discovered the way to release the powers of Sailor Sol, by becoming one with her star. Every sailor after her," Tana says, gesturing to the many lights that twinkle in the darkness around them. "Has had the ability to become Sailor Sol without such effort – all because Ra forged the connection between planetary crystal, and star."_

"_So they are different?"_

"_They are parts of a whole," Tana says. And her own pink crystal is in her hand once more. "Sol is the star from whence all of our star seeds stem – the planetary star seeds were forged in Sol's light…and from them the star seeds of all things born upon their lands and seas." She holds the pink crystal up to eye-level. "Most humans, they have ordinary star seeds – beautiful, powerful in their own way…capable of great things." The pink crystal – in fact all the lights around her in the darkness grow brighter as she speaks. "But Sailor Crystals…they are unique. For we may form connections with our worlds, and with other worlds through that power…eventually, as I found and as many others found, it is possible to take on the strength of the star that created all of those. Or," she nods to Serenity, "In desperate times, as Ra and now you have done, to seek out a direct and far more powerful connection."_

_And for the first time she is aware of a new light, eclipsing even Tana's crystal. Serenity's eyes fall to it, and see the blinding power (which can belong only to Sol) emanating from a perfectly sculpted, lavender crystal hovering above her own chest._

"_You asked for the Guardian," Tana laughs. "The Guardian is a defender of Sol's energy. It is not the power itself, but the strength to bear it that is the essence of The Guardian. Twas never a capacity embodied by the Golden Crystal nor our star…it was your own soul all along."_

_Serenity stares down at the lavender Sailor Crystal. "My soul…" and raises both her arms, grasping it tightly within her hands. The words fall from her lips with ease. "Sailor Crystal Power," she whispers, and gasps as the light within the lavender crystal surges into her – all the power of Sol blazing in her veins as ceaseless, white, heat._

_Her realms are threatened. She can see them – dying and cold – unnatural ice winking back towards her like perverse coffins._

_And their murderer, on course for the bright blue pearl to which she was particularly attached in this life._

_Her power has gone unused for far too long. She gathers it together – all the reactive elements – within her miniscule shell._

_She summons this life's favoured weapon to her hand – the old sword – aptly named as it glows to reflect the might of her power. And gets her bearings in this new form – her latest body._

_It will take eight seconds to reach Earth if she takes her time. She won't._

~_paxlunae_~

Far from the battles where her friends and allies die in ice, the Queen of Jupiter feels herself surrounded by fire. She has drawn the unicorns further form Sol, in order to see more of it, and in the endless hours since Serenity had disappeared within the star, she has shed all of her armour to combat the sweltering heat. She wears only the simple green tunic and leggings of any Juper military uniform. Even that is too hot to face Sol. Sweat rolls down from her temple, over cracked lips, and splashes across her hands – which have now left impressions of her fingernails in the wood of her craft.

So too has Sol left its impressions on her. She has stared so long that, whenever she blinks, the ebbs and flows of plasma and fire across its surface leave ghost images dancing across her eyelids. Despite the disorientation and discomfort she keeps watch, eyes seeking out any irregularity in the star's surface.

_You have to come back, _she prays, maintaining slow, calm breaths that mask the turmoil within her. _You have to. _

She stares so long she nearly misses it, at the corner of her eye, plasma churning together in a whirling pattern, like a storm. Her breath catches when her eyes finally do spot the movement, taking in the colors as they spin together, faster and faster; whirls of red, yellow, and orange are merging into a pulsing, brilliant white. She reaches out for the unicorns' reins. "Come on," she mutters, squinting as the light becomes too bright to watch. "Come on…"

The energy spins together until it gathers all in one, small point of light, growing within Sol as the outside warps and bulges to accommodate it.

Suddenly an arm of plasma lashes outwards. She ducks. Tendrils of molten energy blaze overhead. She looks up, watching, wide-eyed, as pure Sol-light races after the plasma flare. She wobbles as she stands, keeping a tight grip on the reins and gasps as something even brighter, perhaps the core of the star itself, shoots past: a figure in a brilliant white uniform that blends seamlessly into the steel-coloured hems of skirt and collar, with steely accents on glowing gloves...all the same steely color as the blade that glows in the figure's left hand. She catches the sol-light yellow tails of bows and glowing blond of pigtails streaming out behind _Serenity!_

She gives chase, urging the unicorns to follow as Sailor Sol raises her hand, and a beam of light surrounds her. Hippolyte flies straight into it, chasing the blazing light of the Sailor as fast as her unicorns will go. When they emerge from the light she gasps, she's now flying straight towards Earth – millions of miles from Sol. And Sailor Sol is flying ahead of her, aiming straight for the icy comet that has just emerged from behind the moon.

~_paxlunae_~

"_So I'll continue on now...as Sol?" She asks Tana. "This means the Guardianship is not stalled at Earth?"_

"_It means there shall never be a Sailor Earth again," Tana sighs, "but fear not, you'll continue on as Sol's Guardian, as you were meant to. And when your time is through, the protections shall encircle Sol as intended, and our cycle will restart on Mars as soon as a child with a Sailor Crystal is born._

"_As soon as… does that mean there is more than one potential Guardian?"_

"_There's quite a few," Tana confirms. "That is the one misconception I did not realize until after I had passed…why even now there are those who could have been The Guardian…from Jupiter, from Uranus, even others from Earth. You happened to be born on the right planet at the right time... it is all a matter of timing," Tana says. "In some future life, they may yet take up the mantel of The Guardian."_

"_That's…" Serenity pauses. "So sad."_

~_paxlunae_~

She can see, at last, the top of the comet, and the remains of Sol's forces who froze, crashed, and shattered across its surface. The burning power in her blazes in fury as she speeds even faster towards the intruder.

The top of it is completely ice - fields of treacherous icicles culminating in a giant throne upon which some sentient being reclines. It waves its frozen hand and the whole comet glows, ice generating another army's worth of drones. They swarm Sailor Sol, icy-teeth barred as they shriek, the sound of shattering ice echoing across the space between them.

She keeps flying towards them, unafraid. her pure-white eyes are focused on the ice being.

The drones crash into her and vanish, evaporating upon contact with the corona of light that surrounds her.

The Snow Queen – for she must be from the crown of ice upon her head, rises from her throne, her face twisting with rage. The ice around her glows blue as she summons more drones – who form a cluster as big as the comet itself. They too die as they hit the light around Sailor Sol.

She dives straight for the comet as The Snow Queen raises both her arms, gathering rapidly-spinning funnels of ice and snow at her fingertips, and thrusts them towards Sailor Sol.

She raises her sword in both hands. "Moonlight Solar Blast!" She screams, and slashes the sword downwards. An arc of starlight slices through the Snow Princess attack she screams as it melts through the icy arms she raises over her head.

The comet and the Snow Queen then glow brightly, a storm of snow coming up around them like a shield.

Sailor Sol hovers before the comet, meeting The Snow Queen's eyes with her own, blazing white ones.

~_paxlunae_~

"_I'm afraid I do not understand, Guardian," Tana says frowning. "How is that sad?"_

"_Well: if so many have the ability to be Sailors, yet those of us that are must fight alone…it's not fair." _

"_It is the way of things," Tana consoles her._

"_But does it have to be?" Serenity thinks. "I have just mastered my powers, found a kind of place amongst the people of this star system…but when I'm gone none of that will change the fact that the next Guardian will be alone all over again." Serenity holds the lavender sailor crystal before her – her own soul, and considers. "We are the most powerful beings in the universe, Tana. And what you did with the Golden Crystal was brilliant, and what Romula did to protect future Guardians is helpful… But you were right when you said the depths of human treachery would grow more pernicious. As long as The Guardian is alone in the worlds, there will be those who will stop at nothing to control them. What happens when there is another Terrio? Or when the Uranians perfect Romula's spell? And even if none of that occurs, even if The Guardian is strong…those they love could still be used against them." She looks out at the many lights in the distant reaches of this dark place – other Sailor Crystals… Guardians of Sol like herself. "I've fought alone so many times…what would it be like if I didn't have to?"_

"_There is only one star," Tana reminds her. "There can only ever be one Sailor Sol."_

"_I don't accept that." Serenity insists._

~_paxlunae_~

Hippolyte flies in as close to the comet as she can, taking in Serenity's new uniform, her blazing white eyes and hair, and the lavender crystal that rests over her chest in the center of a yellow bow. She watches her lower her sword as the Snow Queen rises from her throne, ice around her glowing as she regenerates her melted arms.

"Who are you?" The Snow Queen snarls at Sailor Sol.

"_I am the Guardian of this star and her planets_," she intones. And Hippolyte gapes. The voice is lower than Serenity's. _Is that the Goddess herself?_

Sailor Sol gestures with her free hand to the Earth behind her. "_I shall not permit you to possess this world, nor any of its fellows."_ She raises the hand high over her head as a nimbus of light begins to gather in her palm. "_I demand you relinquish those worlds you have frozen and go in peace."_

"_They are mine!" _The Snow Queen snarls.

"Then I shall banish you by force – do not seek to return." She aims the power in her open palm as The Snow Queen who shrieks - the protective ice and snow swirling around her intensifying. "Sol Passionate Flare!"

The light in her palm explodes outwards, crashing into the force-field around the Snow Queen. It drives the comet back, hurtling it back out into the depths of space, pushing it along until it is little more than a distant star in the black abyss. Then, in a wink, it is no more.

As the light of the attack dims from her hands, Hippolyte flies to Sailor Sol, drawing her chariot up beneath The Guardian as her starlight-white boots land on the chariot floor with a soft clack.

The Guardian stretch her arms wide, palms flexed outwards. "Sol Healing Pulse!" Hippolyte gasps as a shockwave of power explodes forth from the Guardian's body and travels through hers, warming her until the ice melts from her hair and clothes. She whirls around, watching the light roll across space in all directions, unfreezing battalions, ships, and chariots that litter the path towards Earth, and (she realizes) giving life back to all Sol's frozen worlds. She beams at the Guardian, launching towards her for a hug, but the Guardian holds up her hands, forcing Hippolyte to step back.

"_I have only just begun,"_ Sailor Sol says, as her eyes, crescent, and hair blaze all the brighter. Hippolyte shields her eyes, awed.

~_paxlunae~_

"_What if there is no Sailor Sol…" Serenity considers. "What if instead, that power is shared…equally… among eight sailors (nine if the Golden Crystal is ever freed). They would be a team... of friends." She thinks of Cornelia... "lovers," of Hippolyte... "sisters." She looks at Tana, and then her eyes fall on another flicker of starlight, approaching them. It grows until it is not a crystal, but the red outline of a girl, as young as Serenity had been when she'd first transformed. The girl is smiling, face framed by twin, curly pigtails. The symbol of Mars glows softly on her forehead._

"_I think it's a wonderful idea,"Rema smiles._

"_As do I," a small, green light flashes as the child-Guardian Diane appears on her left._

"_And I," The gruff voice belongs to a tall blond with severely pinned braids framing her grinning face, the symbol of Uranus shining between her eyes – Ceilhee._

"_And I," _

"_And I,"_

"_And I" the many voices of past Guardians chorus one after the other as their star seeds zip towards her, growing into their human forms as they join the circle around Serenity: there is The Guardian Althea of Mercury, another she knows as Sappho of Venus. She finds that even those she's never seen images of are still known to her by name: Marine, Ramsee, Ganesia, Harmonia, Clío, Padma, Brigid, Atalanta…on and on until all 26 of her predecessors stand around her. Including one who rests her hand on Tana's shoulder. Her mentor jumps before moving aside, bowing her head in deference to the woman whose eyes and hair blaze with the light of a star, who stands taller than all the others, and who carries a small replica of their star glowing in her palm – the heart of Sol._

"_You're…" she loses her voice as the woman nods. She squares her shoulders, offering up her own star seed with both hands. "Help me," she says, looking at all of them before resting her eyes on the final member of their circle. "I don't want them to fight alone."_

_As one, they gather around her, their hands resting on her shoulders, her arms, and over the Sailor Crystal between her hands. Ra (the original Sailor of Sol) steps forwards to meet her, and let's Sol's heart merge with her crystal, engulfing it. _

_Tana meets her eyes as she places her hand atop all of theirs. "You have the words already."_

"_Together?" she asks and they all nod._

_And the 27 Guardians of Sol speak as one: "Sol Crystal Power!"_

~_paxlunae~_

Hippolyte stumbles back, catching herself on the seat of the chariot as the light around Sailor Sol grows exponentially, emanating from the small crystal in the center of her bow. Sailor Sol brings her hands up to the crystal and gasps as she jerks her hands apart. There's a flash, and Hippolyte blinks rapidly to adjust to the spectrum of light blazing before her. In the place of one crystal's bright white, there are now nine that blaze as a rainbow of colors: from a dark maroon to a soft blue. They float above Sailor Sol's cupped hands in a slow circle. She watches as Sailor Sol raises her hands, and the nine lights. Her white eyes flash as eight of them shoot off in different directions, traveling out to the depths of space. The ninth, a pale lavender returns to her hands, disappearing as Sailor Sol lowers it back towards her chest. And with it, the glow around Sailor Sol begins to fade as well, including the white light that has filled her hair and eyes. Hippolyte steps up to her, catching her in a hug as Serenity's amber irises become visible once more.

"You did it!" She cheers, pulling back to beam at Serenity.

Serenity tries to grin as well, but it becomes a grimace. Hippolyte suddenly finds herself supporting all of The Guardian's weight as Serenity's knees give out beneath her. She lowers them both to the floor of the chariot and cries out as the brilliant uniform of Sailor Sol suddenly begins to flicker, unravelling into blazing white ribbons around Serenity. Hippolyte feels Serenity shiver and sees her hand dart up to clutch her chest. She covers that hand with her own. "Serenity…"

Serenity's eyes flick to hers and she turns her hand to clasp the Juper Queen's, squeezing it. "Hippolyte," she says as the ribbons around her begin to fade – and Serenity's body along with it. Hippolyte's heart stops cold in her chest as Serenity's amber eyes close, her whole body becoming translucent. "I'm sorry."

~_paxlunae_~

"_You won't survive." Tana tells her as she is consumed by Sol's might. "You know that. It might be different, if you had the Golden Crystal, but even your own soul, strong as it is, cannot take on the entire star, awaken every planet, and have enough left... Even Ra could not control that level of power for longer than it took to complete her final task."_

"_That is all right," Serenity thinks as she feels her soul reaching out to the slumbering seeds of all Sol's worlds "At least they won't be alone like I was…"_

~_paxlunae_~

"No!" Hippolyte gasps, her hand releasing Serenity's to wrap around her, pulling the Guardian as close to her body as she can. "No, you can't leave! You can't!"

But as she goes to grasp Serenity's shoulder her hand closes around empty air. Her arms slam together as the body they were holding disappears, scattering around the Juper Queen as millions of specs of starlight. She reaches for them but they evade her hands, spinning away into oblivion, She tries to rise to her feet and trips, stumbling on something that rests on the floor of her chariot. She turns, on her knees, and grasps the worn, leather hilt in her hand, drawing the ancient sword from its scabbard. She rest's her hand on Moonlight's cold steel as the last of Sol's light fades from the red jewel in its pommel.

"_Goodbye_," Serenity's voice whispers. Though as she whips her head around all she can see is the moon's sunlit-pearly surface and the soft blue crescent of the Earth's outer atmosphere. All the rest is the endless vacuum of space.

The twenty-seventh Guardian of Sol, Serenity Selen, is gone.

~_Á Suivre~_


	25. The Naming of Mare Serenitatis

AN: And here we are…the final chapter. Gosh, I've spend 9 months working on this fic. And it's the longest thing I've ever completed. I'm quite proud of it. I hope you've enjoyed reading it.

I'll be posting an epilogue soon that will contain some announcements about my upcoming fics. But here I just want to say thank you _thank you_ so so so much for reading _Pax Lunae_ through to the final word.

Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own this. But I dream of the day that I will own something I've written.

Last Time on _Pax_: Serenity Selen banished the Snow Princess Kaguya, revived the frozen planets, and used her own Sailor Crystal to awaken all the star seeds of the nine world's simultaneously. And then she perished in Hippolyte's arms…

The Naming of Mare Serenitatis

The whole population of The Moon bore witness to the great flash of light overhead, the comet being forced back into the distance, and then the pulse of magic that melted every bit of snow and ice on The Moon's surface. Zinea and Asha stand at the head of the crowd who rushed out of the compound and down to the beach to watch as soon as the comet had been noticed looming above them. She clutches Asha's arm close as they stare up towards the dark sky. They're amid an Earth-less night on this side of the moon and the absence of the light above makes the darkness look even thicker. They stare up towards stars thinking the same thought as every other denizen of their small world.

_Where is Serenity_. She had left nigh on a week ago and the snow had gotten worse each day she was gone until the moment the explosion of Sol's energy had banished it.

And surely, she'd had something to do with that. And surely, she'd be home soon.

"Look there," Zinea said, pointing her finger up towards the dark sky. Asha squints, trying to find whatever it is, but it's long minutes before she-too catches the wink of gold and then the bright blue of familiar beasts' manes as the descent through the atmosphere.

Zinea's grip on Asha's arm only tightens further when the silhouette within the chariot is close enough to distinguish. It is just one person hunched over the front of the craft (for they can see the curve of her golden helmet bowed low as she approaches land. The Queen of Jupiter, it seems, has come to see them alone.

"She's just resting," Asha assures them all. "She's on some battleship somewhere too tired to move. And Hippolyte's come to tell us so."

They just about believe her as the two unicorns pulling the chariot make landfall. They just about believe her as the beasts slow to a halt in the calm surf. They believe her right up until Hippolyte stumbles from the craft with something balanced in her arms. Asha is even about to assure them that it is Hippolyte's own sword the Queen holds until she sees the distinctive red jewel at the pommel and the distinctive golden hilt flash in the light of the torches they've brought down to the beach. Whispers begin to rush through the congregated people as the Queen of Jupiter stumbles into the surf. And all of them fall silent once again as the Queen's anguished cry echoes over the water as she plunges the blade into the sand.

In the silence that follows, Asha can hear Hippolyte mumbling something, and with Zinea still clutched to her arm in disbelieve, Asha makes her way down the beach, wincing as she bends weary knees to kneel beside the Juper Queen.

"Moonlight Healing Purge," Hippolyte is muttering, hands still grasping tightly to the sword's hilt. "Moonlight Healing Purge… Moonlight Healing Purge."

"Hippolyte," Asha murmurs, heart heavy in her chest as she reaches out to put her free hand on the Queen's shoulder. Zinea has redoubled her grasp on the other. "Why,"

"I have to bring her back." Hippolyte chokes. "She uses this…to bring everyone back…it can work for her too."

Zinea lets out a sob beside her. Asha barely hold's hers back. She squeezes the shaking Queen's shoulder.

"My dear," she tells the young Monarch. "I am sorry, but it was never the sword that made those words work."

"Shut up!" Hippolyte snaps. Shrugging off her hand and glaring at Asha. "It can bring her back! It can!"

~_paxlunae_~

_It will bring her back. _Hippolyte thinks, directing her glare away from Asha and back towards the sword. She stares deep into the red jewel in the hilt and thinks of every time Serenity has ever used it: To heal her own people from the horde and again for the countless innocents of Earth. And to heal her…after Mytilene and on Nyx…and though she cannot remember it on Eris as well. Serenity has always saving her.

_And this can save her too. _she thinks. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" _It has to_. "Moonlight Healing Purge!"

"Hippolyte," the other priestess whispers. "Please…it won't work!"

"You're wrong!" she lashes out at them, curling her hands even tighter around the sword as it sinks even more into the sand. The water of the sea soaks into her leggings – icy cold against her knees. She shivers, but shouts again. "Moonlight Healing Purge!" nothing. "Moonlight Healing Purge," no magic of any kind. "Moonlight Hea-" She coughs as her voice cracks, shaking as she draws her next breath.

"Please," Asha's voice whispers beside her once again, "Let us help you,"

"I don't want help!" The Queen snaps. "I needed to tell her," her voice cracks again. She swallows the sob that threatens to spill past her lips. _I am not going to cry. Crying would mean… _"This will work." She insists. "I have the sword…and the will…and the words."

"But magic," Zinea protests.

"What else is there to magic?" Hippolyte yells, refocusing her attention on the sword. "MOONLIGHT HEALING PURGE!" she shouts, her voice raw. "MOONLIGHT HEALI –" Her voice fails her on that attempt and as she tries to swallow, tries to get the words past her lips again, she sobs. It shakes her entire frame and causes her grip on the sword to falter. She scrambles to replace her trembling hands. She can't let it go.

"Only The Guardian could make that sword work," Zinea tells her.

Hippolyte shakes her head. "M-mage," she stutters.

"Even if a mage of a Veneficii could, you're neither." Asha says, voice impossibly calm.

But Hippolyte only shakes her head once more, eyes still on the sword. "M-moonlight," but she coughs again, and sobs, her voice broken.

She waits for the platitudes of consolment from the women beside her but both have fallen silent. _One more time_. "Moonlight H-healing," but this time her voice trails off in the middle. Her shoulders sag.

_The words aren't enough. _She thinks as another sob shakes her.

The water lapping at her knees is ice cold. She can see the outline of herself in to dark sea, and the gleam of the sword as well. _There as to be a way. _She sniffs. "Moonlight…" but she trails off. shaking her head. "Moon," she begs. "Please, Moon" _As if this rock could do anything, _she thinks. Though it can't hurt to appeal to it, this unseeming satellite that had become Serenity's home. "Moon…" _I've just got to keep trying. _"Healing," but not with those words…new words… stronger ones. "Moon Healing," she chokes on another sob.

"Those aren't even the right words," another voice mumbles from further up the beach and is quickly shushed by other onlookers. She flushes and sniffs. _No, they aren't the right words, _she thinks. _But if the old ones don't work. _She feels the anger and the grief as coursing through her, hot and desperate. _I need new words, _she thinks_. Stronger words. _"Moon Healing…" _my words. _"ESCALATION!"

As she shouts, the first of her tears spills forth from her eyes and begins to shine as it leaves her face. She closes her eyes against the blinding light. Her body is rigid, paralyzed as the hot grief and anger within her surge forth from her heart, up through her arms and hands, into the sword. She hears gasps as the sword begins to glow with the same light as her tear, which still hovers freely in the air.

Her tear shines steadily in the darkness as the water around the sword ripples outwards and the ground beneath the blade trembles. She is thrown away from the sword bay the shaking of the ground and crashes on her elbows into the cool sand, eyes never leaving the shining tear drop that still floats over the sword. She watches as it grows, as the light within the sword glows, and then as the water beneath the sword pulls fully away and the sand splits apart, making room for a column of light to pierce through to the surface. It rises up into the atmosphere turning the whole night into daylight.

"By Ra," Asha murmurs across the sand from her. She and Zinea have both gone to their knees, as have the hundred other onlookers further up the beach. But Hippolyte notices none of them. She stares at the column of light that's engulfed the sword and at the even brighter light of her tear shining in the darkness. She gapes as it glows. All the while the ground beneath her rumbles on, water sloshing to-and-fro as new land rises up at the edge of the beach.

And as it does, the sword is pushed out of the sand, falling to the sand though the column of light persists. Something bursts forth from the sea's edge where the sword had been – crystalline in texture. It grows above the water in a tall, perfect column, until it stands above them – a silvery-white, crystal obelisk.

"_My Guardian," _a low voice addresses her, echoing forth from the crystal. She gasps. It is the same low voice Sailor Sol had spoken with during the battle.

"Y-you're the Goddess," she stutters. Not even noticing when the earthquake stops, or when the water rushes back around the obelisk and covers her to the waist. She sits unmoving in the cold water in awe, for Ra has never appeared to anyone before.

"_Indeed you have come to call me that," _the voice says. "_Though truly there was a day when I was just another mortal like you, My Guardian._"

"I am not The Guardian," she protests in a hoarse whisper.

"_I hardly think that so," _the figure says, observing her with ancient, pure-white eyes_ "Many have the power to become Guardians though few are allowed the opportunity. But there are other futures…other lives, where you and your Serenity are not so different from each other."_

Hippolyte gapes_. _

"_And it was this capacity in your soul – the strength of your will and the power of your heart – that have allowed the impossible to happen today."_

All around her, the sand begins to shine, then the ocean spreading out from the obelisk, off towards the horizon, until the entire Moon shines with its own silver glow._ "Your Serenity was close to understanding for so long. And yet only Tana ever managed to unlock the secret."_

"W-what secret,"

"_That all this," _the figure of Ra gestures to their surroundings_. "This world, this star system, this universe: they are nothing on their own – nothing with out us to give them life and love – to make them beautiful, purposeful, magnificent."_ Ra smiles down at her. "_What's more: your Serenity discovered a different truth that not even Tana, in all her research, could uncover. Power shared is not power divided – it is power with the opportunity to grow. It is how you were restored through the Earth's soul. It is how, indeed, you have created a new world."_

Hippolyte looks around at the glowing sand and her eyes widen at the vast expanses of flowers poking up through the ground, then out at the pristine sea, and over towards the Selen compound which has undergone the most drastic change of all – having grown into a sparkling citadel.

"_This was once a piece of a young Earth…it ached for a soul of its own. And you have provided it." _Ra gestures to the shining light before her – Hippolyte's tear drop – which has grown into a fine, round crystal. "_A Silver Crystal to mirror gold for this Kingdom of The Moon." _She holds the crystal in her left hand, conjuring a pink staff and affixing the crystal to it, settling it in a large crescent shapped jewel setting that caps the end of the staff. "_Stay strong," _Ra says. She nods towards Hippolyte as she speaks, then to the two Priestesses who still kneel further down the beach, and then the whole Lunar populace who stares, slack jawed, from high up upon the dunes._ "This one has upset the order of all things. And she shall need you to usher in the new millennium."_

_New Millennium? _Hippolyte wonders, unable to speak as she watches the light around Ra begin to fade, pulling inwards and adding opacity to the spectral figure.

"_It shall be known as The Pax Lunae. And The Moon shall be in a unique position to defend it, sharing the longest of lifespans with its Guardian. Indeed they'll be needed – for it shall be quite a few centuries before the planetary crystals have fully awoken. As well... It is my turn again to set foot within the living world, and as I prepare once more to set foot in the Mortal Realm, I shall no longer be able to advise you. It is not easy…being the fulcrums upon which the future tilts. Lead well,_" Ra commands, now more solid than ever. The light is gathering into a flaring white gown with a crescent adorning the bow…just as a similar crescent mark is peeking into existence on the spectre's forehead. "_And someday, many futures from now, there may come a day when you guard this galaxy by her side."_

"Galaxy?" she murmurs aloud.

"_One life at a time my dear…after all. Power and time are tricky things. Even with love, they are painstaking to keep on track." _

And with a clap, the column of light disappears entirely and then the light fades from the figures eyes, which roll back in her head. Hippolyte launches forwards, barely catching the figure as she collapses into the sand.

Her hand comes up to cup the familiar face before seeking out the reassuring beat of her pulse. When she does find it she sobs and laughs, stroking Serenity's now silver hair and glancing towards the pink staff that is still clutched in her left hand. _How is this possible? _She wonders, but dismisses the thought as Serenity stirs.

"Hippolyte," Serenity murmurs, blinking, and Hippolyte stares.

"Your eyes…" she murmurs

"What's wrong with them," Serenity queries frowning. Her eyes are no longer amber. Instead they have been remade in a bright blue – the same hue as this new world's great ocean.

"They're open," Hippolyte murmurs. She pulls Serenity in close, curling her hand into The Guardian's newly silver hair as she kisses her at last.

~_Le Fin~_

ANII: If you've read all the way through to the end. Would you mind leaving a review? It can just be a "Hello" or "Goodbye" if you'd prefer. But I'll respond to them all with my thanks. I'd really just like the opportunity to see whom all of you are who have read this with such dedication.

Cheers,

~TEitPP


	26. Epilogue: The Serenitys

AN: Epilogues make everything better don't they? Especially when they're about the FUTURE!.

So listen here: I have a couple announcements before we get into the actual Epilogue. Skim, if you don't plan on reading more of my work. Read if you desire things like Pax sequels, crossovers, oneshot series…my schpeel will be worth your while.

Disclaimer: Hahahahahahaha. … No still don't own it.

Chapter Text

~Announcements~

On 25.12.15. Look out for Sailor Moon H: The order of the phoenix. This will be a Sailor Moon/Harry Potter crossover and shall be the first of three instalments (corresponding to the last three Harry Potter books.) It is compliant with Sailor Moon canon, and with the HP canon up to Goblet of Fire. The scouts are reincarnated after the end of Sailor Stars only to discover that Mamoru is not with them. His soul was sent back earlier in time and he has been reincarnated somewhere in Wizarding Britain. The scouts enrol in Hogwarts to find the missing Prince and become caught up in the Second Wizarding War…

~For Spring 2016: Pax Lunae was the series prequel, now check out the series sequel: AGE OF AQUARIUS (situations from which shall be foreshadowed in this epilogue). A year and a half after Sailor Stars, an enemy from the time of the primordial sailors re-enters the universe with its sights set on Sol. The scouts are not powerful enough to defeat it yet. To do that, they will have to reconnect with their past lives so that each of them controls the magic of their world to the same level that Usagi controls the power of The Moon. But unlocking memories is a messy business. And added to it are the surprisingly difficult challenges involved with navigating civilian life, building their futures, and of course – stopping the ancient evil threatening all they hold dear.

~ONGOING NOW: Check out Those Times We Weren't Saving The World. A Sailor Moon one-shot series (suggestions for one-shots considered, send me a PM). And The Potter Paradox. A fun Harry Potter tale exploring the consequences of a universe where James and Lily survive (yes this has been done infinite times. But try it out, I've got one chapter now. And this will take a different bend than most…).

Now, thank you for your time. Without further ado I give you…

The Serenitys: From Pisces to Aquarius

Pisces

The Queen of The Moon is halfway through the latest letter from her sister and just about to explain to her new advisor the reason she's not-to-pleased with its content, when the sound of a door slamming breaks her concentration.

She sets the letter down as her fellow Queen storms into the room, the train of her white gown catching on the door she's just slammed. In her fury she rips it. She frowns at Serenity; her love is not one to be so clumsy.

"What's happened?" she asks as both she and her advisor rise from the desk.

"I am going to kill Ananke," Queen Serenity fumes. "That's what's happened!"

She and their advisor trade stunned glances and their advisor sighs, her ears twitching as she thinks. "Is there any way I can put that to her in a slightly more polite letter, Your Majesty?"

"Don't sass me, Luna!" Serenity scolds.

"I would never," their advisor says patiently. "I've the utmost respect for you, but usually conferences with Pluto don't put you this out of sorts."

Luna hops up onto Serenity's shoulders and flicks the Queen on the nose with her tail, getting her to smile. "I'm sorry," The Queen says, petting Luna on the head. "I'm just a bit rattled is all… hold off on writing. I'm unsure at the moment exactly how to express… she's no idea how she's just complicated things!"

"Then I'll go retrieve Artemis from the kitchens. We'll see about generating a list of diplomatically acceptable ideas." Luna says, hopping down from the Queen's shoulder and dashing quietly from the study.

They both watch Luna depart and then Serenity sighs, going to the study door and closing it firmly.

"Love?" Hippolyte asks. For Serenity is not the kind of royal to seclude herself away. Why, even when Earth had nearly sent an attack force against them fifty years ago she had remained calm and open about the situation with their subjects.

"Pluto chose its Guardian yesterday," Serenity says, "And the Queen's already crippled their ability to join together with their fellow scouts." She leans into Hippolyte's arms as they wrap around her. "I've just….I've no idea how to deal with the situation. I am in complete damage control mode making sure they don't actually kill themselves with powers they don't understand."

"Well certainly you've got a few years to work it out – they're barely a day old dear."

But Serenity is shaking her head. "Not this time…"

Hippolyte frowns. "But…then how."

"I don't know," Serenity groans, tilting her face into Hippolyte's neck.

"Maybe Luna or Artemis could resea –"

"They can't," Serenity says quickly. "It's so precarious…If even one person catches on to what's happened…no. I need to keep Ananke's power play as quiet as I can until I know how I'm going to resolve it."

Hippolyte bites back her curiousity and kisses the top of Serenity's head. "Then you'd best stop talking to me about it as well."

They share everything between them, and she's expecting Serenity to protest, but all her fellow Queen does is nod. "For the best, I suppose." She pulls away, pointing towards the letter on the desk. "Is that from Frigga?"

"Actually, yes." Hippolyte says. "I thought it would be longer given that she hasn't written in months… but it's barely a page."

"You're kidding," Serenity gapes. "But…but Frigga talks so much."

"I know." Hippolyte says, going to the desk and passing the letter to Serenity. "And she tells me everything so this is… unsettlingly vague."

"She's doing well," Serenity murmers as she skims the page… "Mercury's in the middle of a technology boom…wait how can that be," she says with a frown. "They're resources have been severely depleted under the last King."

Hippolyte shrugs. "Perhaps Jove found a way to work around that."

"And…she won't write as much because they've entered into a stronger alliance with Earth?" Serenity frowns. "I know Mercury's been on the fence…but Frigga surely has some sway."

"I know," Hippolyte shakes her head. "Hence my worries,"

"Of what exactly?"

"Well, the letter just sounds…too vague…and too perky. I mean she's married onto a whole new world and she hasn't written in months…I'd think she'd have more to tell me."

"You've probably got nothing to be concerned about…she may just be busy." Serenity consoles her.

Hippolyte nods, muttering "Don't understand why she married the twat. He was a bit entertaining for sure but soo…backwards sometimes."

"You're only saying that because his father was Uranian," Serenity chuckles. "They're not all bad."

"No, just their ideas." Hippolyte sighs. "Speaking of…any news from your little birdie?"

"Just this," Serenity says, pulling a piece of paper from a pocket in her gown, burnt from its trip through the fire. "Cronus is on-world again, and she shan't be sending me anything else while he's at home."

Hippolyte crosses her arms and leans back against the desk. "There's really nothing," but she shakes her head before finishing the thought. "Not as long as they're under the Golden Crystal's protection."

"You never know," Serenity shrugged. "Earth's gone through so many monarchs with their shorter lives…I keep hoping one will be amenable to resolving this impasse… as it is, Hyperion says this new Monarch is more like Portia than the last."

"Fantastic," Hippolyte mutters.

"It's all going so wrong," Serenity laments, leaning against the desk next to Hippolyte and resting her head on the Queen's shoulder. "I've been thinking… I thought I made the right choice back when I split Sol's powers…but I'm not sure."

"You did exactly the right thing." Hippolyte insists. "I guarantee you that future Tana dreamed of is going to be a lot safer with nine sailors than with one."

"But only if they're together," Serenity says. "I thought Uranus was my greatest difficulty, but now Ananke's gone and done…this," she says, hands flying erratically before her as though she's weighing their impossible options. "And Mercury is siding with the Golden Crystal. I don't even knowwhere Venus stands these days, it seems like Zeus has absolutely no thoughts in his head."

"Oh he's got at least one," Hippolyte remarks dryly.

"And I thought at least Mars' Guardian would be easy to bring into the fold."

"They may yet be. Violence with the clans isn't uncommon. Just wait for them to actually have a Guardian – that will appease most of them."

"We hope," Serenity says. "I just…before when all of them had to share one guardian they were more likely to work together…but now that they each have their own I fear they'll never let them leave their world, as though they'll become some nationalist symbol of some sort."

"Or simply never let them be a Guardian," Hippolyte says thinking of Uranus.

"Precisely," Serenity says. "I need…" she sighs in frustration. "I need away to show them that regardless of their planet's politics they are a team…Some way to show them that The Moon is on their side…that they have some greater purpose. Having the silver crystal can only do so much of that."

"You need a symbol," Hippolyte murmurs. "I think…"

"What?"

"Well I may have an idea. A gift lets say. That sort of thing doesn't look threatening to Earth, but (depending what it is) the symbolism of it should be an adequate show of unity."

Serenity perks up beside her. "I'm listening?"

"How do you feel about Castles, we can create them with your crystal – one for each of the Guardians to show that we welcome them as equals."

"Mhmm…"

"Except they won't be on the planets. They'll be off world – like,"

"Like moons!" Serenity cheers excitedly. "Which of course will directly correlate to our own position." She leans up and kisses Hippolyte soundly. "I'd never figure half these things out without you."

"Don't worry," she laughs. "You'll always have my brain to pick with these things."

"You'll always be standing beside me?"

"Of course," Hippolyte affirms. "How many times must I tell you?"

"Mhmmm…perhaps another dozen or so before the century's through," she says.

"Maybe more if the other worlds are going to keep rattling me."

"They will, but it will be okay." Hippolyte says, taking Serenity into her arms again. "You have our advisors, you have the best royal subjects, and" she smiles. "You have me. I'm always going to be here, I promise"

Serenity beams at her, smoothing away the slightest of wrinkles that have recently begun to form at the edges of Hippolyte's eyes. It's a fanciful promise. They haven't even made it to the day when all eight Guardians are around to manage, nor do they have any idea yet who'll succeed the throne and the silver crystal after her.

But for right now, she leans up and kisses Hippolyte soundly once more. For right now, she lets herself believe that promise.

The Cusp

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

The shout and the subsequent crash of a tidal wave sends most of the Senshi and Shittenou storming up to the kitchen doorway from the living room, weapons drawn and henshin wands out.

"Stop right there!" Venus shouts, leaping through the doorway with her love-chain at the ready. "How dare you intrude on – "

"It isn't a youma," Michiru says, having already de-transformed. She's got her arms crossed and is glaring at Haruka who's backed into the corner of the flooded kitchen. "Just this one not reading the recipe."

"I forgot to defrost it," Haruka says with her hands held up. "I thought turning up the oven temperature would compensate."

"Oh no," Makoto giggles. "Haruka that's…" she snorts, unable to help herself. "something Usagi would do."

"HEY!" Usagi whines pushing through the crowd into the kitchen.

"She's absolutely right," Michiru says, pulling the still-smoking roast out of the oven and stepping nimbly through the ankle deep water to place it on the counter. "Ugh, it's too late to buy another one."

"We could, ah," Haruka scratches the back of her head. "Get take out."

"And you could take yourself out to the couch tonight," Michiru glares.

"Woah, woah," Haruka says. "Look this is fixable!" she says splashing through the kitchen and elbowing past the crowd gathered in the doorway looking for – "Suna!"

"No," Setsuna says without looking up from the card game she's playing with Chibiusa and Hotaru.

"But it won't disrupt the time-space – "

"Did anyone see it happen?" Setsuna asks with a smirk. Ruka flushes as the dozen or so of them still crowded around the kitchen chuckle.

"It doesn't matter!" Ruka insists, crossing her arms. "Look if any of us see you appear in the kitchen and stop me from setting it on fire, we're all gonna know why you're there AND how your also in the other room at the same time."

"If Papa's allowed to change the past when she messes up can I go back and re-take my English test?" Hotaru pleads.

"Oh!" Usagi cheers "And we could send Ami back in disguise to do my high school exit exams for me!"

"That would be cheating,"

"But you'd do it for me Ami-chan, right," Usagi pouts.

"If they're allowed," Minako says. "Do you think we could also send me back to last week…if I'd just been two more people ahead in the queue I could have landed tickets to the New Years concert."

"You're all ridiculous," Setsuna says, glaring at Ruka. "No one is breaking the time laws."

"You broke them last week," Hotaru points out. "When you – mfff!" she jumps as Chibiusa tackles her and puts her hands over her mouth.

"Wedidn'tbreakanylawsoftime," she protests, looking at all the other scouts and Usagi and Mamoru in particular.

"And we're not breaking any of them over dinner," Setsuna says.

"We may not have to," Makoto calls from the kitchen and they all peak in. She's got a large knife in one hand and a fork in the other, picking delicately through the charred ruins of their dinner. "Give me thirty more minutes and I can salvage this."

"I can help!" Nephrite says, grinning as he pulls a hair tie from his pocket and steps past the sailors into the kitchen. Makoto beams at him.

"You are amazing," Michiru thanks them. "Next time we all have a get together here just let yourselves in and cook."

"Gladly," Makoto laughs. "Your kitchen is a dream," she continues as her eyes scan over the neatly organized pots, pans, stocked cupboards, and even an espresso machine the outer scouts have next to the stove. "Well," she glances down at the ankle deep puddle at her feet. "As long as it's not always a swimming pool."

"It put out the fire," Michiru shrugs, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Which Ruka started."

"But isn't that a fire extinguisher right there," Minako says, pointing. And all of them chuckle as they notice the red can that's been sitting next to the kitchen door.

Michiru flushes bright red and ducks her head. "I wasn't thinking about it, besides can you blame me," she says with a huff. "It has been over a year since I got to throw that attack at anything." She says flexing her hand. "I miss it." She rounds on Minako. "Don't tell me you don't"

"It – " Minako slumps against the doorway of the kitchen. "Alright I miss it a little bit – but, not enough to want something evil back."

"It would be nice to feel a bit more purposeful though." Zoicite supplies from the other side of the doorway, glancing at Kunzite and Jadeite beside him. "I mean… we've gone from leading Earth's greatest evil to being dead and now to spending two years trying to fit in at…high school of all places."

"You could always come to me if you were having trouble with the work, Zoi." Mamoru offers with a frown.

"No, it's find Your High-Mamoru-san." Zoicite stumbles over the name, still unused to Mamoru's preference for his civilian name. "They could do with an update to their history curriculum."

"Which is full of blatant lies," Jadeite says. "Why ever is it required?"

"You have one year left of it," Mamoru says.

"Yeah don't worry Jadeite," Usagi grins. "If I can pass, you'll do fine. And then you never have to go back to school again. Like me!" she grins, clapping her hands.

"You've been out for months," Rei observes.

"And still revelling in it!" Usagi cheers. "Unlike you who's gone back to school."

"Someone will have to have a brain in their head when you become Queen," she retorts.

They're just getting into it when the apartment around them goes dark, every light suddenly shutting off with a crack.

Michiru sighs in the darkness, and the light from her phone illuminates the space. "Fuse box," she mutters. "Water must have got into the outlets."

"I might have a solution…" Ami says, grabbing her henshin wand.

"Nephrite can you shine a light on the spice cabinet…?"

~ageofaquarius~

Thirty minutes later, the lights are back on and the kitchen is dry. It had been quick word once "Ice Bubbles Freeze" had turned the puddle of sea water into ice. From there Haruka had used the Space Sword to cut the ice away from the walls and all of them had worked together to get the blocks of sea water into the elevator and down to the building's pool. Which had been fun to explain to Michiru's neighbours who were already much too nosey about why she lived with two women and had a mysterious 11-year-old daughter who stayed over the weekends. As well as why it was the violinist had been rumoured dead for four months. Yes, they were very curious. But Michiru was loath to move them all to a new place. The acoustics in the music room are perfect she has repeatedly insisted.

They finish transferring the blocks of ice to the pool just in time for Makoto to call from the kitchen that someone should get the table set. It's short work from there for team of Sailors and Shittenou to get the task done.

Usagi surveys them all from the head of the table and grins as Mamoru grasps her hand under the table.

It's been two years exactly since they'd returned, alive, from the battle with Chaos and she still has trouble believing some days that she got them all home safely. She drinks in the sight of Haruka pulling out a chair for Michiru and then, curiously, for Setsuna as well (who tries and fails to hide her blush). She watches as Chibiusa leans over to whisper something to Hotaru, which makes the solemn girl laugh as though she is just another child without a care in the world. And she watches Minako and Rei closely as they take the seats across form the outer scouts and eyes Ami who's sat down at her right hand, both of them giggling as they share the wonder about when Mina and Rei will get around to telling them all that they're seeing each other.

And then the Shittenou, under Makoto's direction, are walking in carrying their Solstice feast with care before taking the seats down the end of the table, Makoto leans in to peck Nephrite on the cheek for the help.

"I can put it off another year you know," Mamoru whispers beside her. "If it's still too soon."

"No," Usagi says, shaking her head. "You go…Rei's got herself into University, and Ami's started her program. Makoto's getting her shop of the ground. Everything is…" she smiles. "Normal." She squeezes Mamoru's hand. "I'm nervous…and I'm gonna have bad days, but I want you to go." She sniffs. "You can't tell Harvard to wait forever."

"I probably could," Mamoru murmurs. "I am the future King."

She laughs. "But you want to be a doctor too." She reminds him. "We're all happy…and it is peace time. And I have to get used to that eventually. Besides," she winks. "I still have two more weeks with you all to myself before you leave."

"Eeeeeeewwwww!" Chibiusa complains beside them, plugging her ears.

"You should get a room." Hotaru smirks as she scoops food onto her plate.

Michiru gasps. "Who taught you that – Ruka?"

"It wasn't me this time,"

Usagi joins them as they all begin to laugh and leans into Mamoru. "Right now," she tells him. "Right now is how it's going to be forever."

_Aquarius_

Usagi "Small Lady" Serenity emerges from the Time Vortex with her key still clutched in her hand and cries out with join when she sees Diana, who bounds up to the now teen-aged Princess and leaps onto her shoulders, purring. "Small Lady, you've grown!"

"I sure have," she says excitedly, cuddling her much-missed confidant. "Is everyone here?"

"Oh yes!" the cat – for she is no longer quite so small – grins. "Ms. Suna said you were coming home today and everyone's arrived to celebrate."

"Ms. Suna?" she gasps. "Pluto is here?"

"Of course she is," Diana says. "Future her couldn't be here before obviously but she's just returned…all the outer senshi have actually. Everyone's been eager for you to get back so they wouldn't have to avoid you."

"Avoid…did I. I did cause a paradox." Usagi says slapping a hand over her face. "Oh god it's been a few years since… I almost forgot."

"You forget becoming a paradox," a sharp voice calls from the palace steps. She spins around. She can't quite place the voice, nor the older, black-haired teenager it belongs to. "Do I…know you."

"Of course you do," the teenager huffs, tossing half a head of black hair over her shoulder. The other half, Usagi realizes, is shorn off in a dramatic fade. The teenager beckons her towards the palace. "I used to be your babysitter way back before you could remember enough to screw up the past."

"Hey!" she complains. "I did a lot of good in the past."

"I know," the teen sighs, beckoning her again. "Why do you think we all had to be so freaking careful around you for so long. Get in here, everyone's waiting for you and we want stories."

"Who is everyone?" she mutters. Everyone who would want to see me would have been there for all the stories, she thinks. She follows the familiar young woman up the steps and quickens her pace to keep up with her fast walk. "You used to babysit me?"

"Yeah, way way way back before you could talk. Soon as you started saying names they realized there might be some problems if you knew who I was," she says. "Don't think anyone actually realized how bad a paradox they'd wound up in until changes actually started effecting your life."

"How do you mean?"

"Well that's what I wanna know," the teenager says. "Besides Megumi we have no clue what the hell you fucked up about the past."

"Language," Diana squeals from her shoulder.

"Well I'm impatient!" she defends herself as they ascend another staircase. "All the adults are out catching up – it's been a long millennium yah know, and you were way too perceptive for them to risk getting together much."

"I'm sorry,"

"Oh – nononono. Don't apologize." The mysterious teen grins. "We got to have some pretty excellent adventures. Hotaru as well."

"You know Hotaru?"

"Man, they really did a good job keeping you in the dark," the teen says as she pushes open the door to a set of living quarters – Usagi's own. She grins as she spots her amazon scouts lounging on the sofa and a few teenagers she doesn't remember – though one looks an awful lot like Makoto save her wild, green hair. And then theres…

"Hotaru-chan!" she grins, sprinting across the room to the taller girl – marvelling at just how tall she's gotten. "You grew up," she gapes.

"You did too," Hotaru beams. "I certainly had a lot of time to do so."

"Is that a tattoo?" she asks, pointing to the ink at the back of Hotaru's neck.

"Uhh... yeah," she says, blushing. "Keep that hush hush. Mum doesn't exactly know yet."

"She won't care."

"No but she'd be all over me for giving this one ideas," she says nodding to the teenager who'd greeted Usagi at the door. "You dyed your hair," she observes.

"I didn't want her to just know whom I was." The teenager says. "It ruins the fun…and the normal color's too distinctive. Now," she says, clapping her hands. "You've had your reunion – I want the story."

"Which one?" Chibiusa asks.

"The big one – the one everyone always says I'm 'too young' to hear," She complains. "Moms are too overprotective. And!" she grins. "In return, me and Megumi," she says, nodding to a darker skinned girl with purple hair drawn up in a frizzy bun. "Can tell you all about the Silver Millennium."

"Within reason," Megumi adds.

Usagi grins. "They said last time I was here they couldn't tell me that."

"I know," the black-haired teen teased. "Lest you and your big mouth told something you shouldn't to the Queen and have her make an even bigger mess of the paradox."

"Be nice," Megumi cautions.

"Oh no, don't even think about scolding me. I'm older," she retorts. "And yet _you_ already know everything and you won't tell me."

"They do this a lot," Hotaru says. "Chibiusa can tell you the story, but you have to let her tell it. It's long and complicated."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, skip those parts." she demands. "I wanna know what happened to Mom,"

"Imouto!" Hotaru scolds.

"Onee-sama puh-lease!" she begs. "I've been 15 for 1,000 years waiting for this one – " she waves at Chibiusa, "To go off on her adventures and grow up. So no one would mess up the future-past-whatever. And you and Megumi know."

"'Know' is a strong word," Megumi, whom Usagi's put together must be the other girl's younger sister, cautions. "I see parts of the past. I try to avoid this particular part of the past per Mama's request."

"I know you know," her sister says, poking her in the nose. "And I am the leader of this team – this lack of insight is a glaring deficit in my ability to do my job, right Suzu-chan? Nari-chan?"

"Right," Makoto's look-a-like affirms.

But the quietest girl - with light blue hair and a sleek set of headphones shakes her head. "I see no immediate need of why the events of the last Cusp are relevant. You may not even be alive for the next one," she reminds the black-haired teenager.

Usagi's old babysitter sags her shoulders in utter defeat and flops down on the rug with a huff. "Fine," she pouts, glaring at Hotaru and her younger sister. "So I don't _need_ to know." She crosses her arms, training her eyes on Chibiusa, "But…it's still a really important part of the past… and I hate not knowing. I hate wondering." She bites her lip. "And I know you want to know about the Silver Millennium. Megumi and I can tell it better than anybody. So come on."

Usagi sighs. "Alright. But I'm not starting half way through. I'm starting at the beginning." She motions to Suzu-chan and Nari-chan as well as her own Amazon scouts as they get seated.

"Mind if I drag Masa-kun out of the library?" Makoto's look-a-like asks with a nod towards the door. "He'd be pretty curious too. Mama and Papa were always so tight-lipped about it…probably cause of you…"

Usagi nods. Setting aside for a moment her confusion over who "Masa-kun" is. "Go ahead," she says, smiling when Hotaru settles next to her and bumps her shoulder.

"Hurry, Nari-chan!" her old babysitter pleads. "And get Akira-chan too. Before Small Lady changes her mind!"

Usagi sighs. To think the dust had barely settled by the time she'd left the past. She leans into Hotaru as she gets her thoughts straight. "Can you help me tell it?" she asks.

"Of course," Hotaru murmurs, "though…I'd rather not tell my perspective of…"

"Oh duh. Don't worry, I'll tell that part," Usagi whispers back. "So wait…she's your sister?"

"Mhmmm."

"Oh my god…" Usagi mutters, looking at her old babysitter with new eyes, seeing past the black hair dye. "I knew you looked familiar. You're name's…"

~Á Suivre~


End file.
